The Warriors finalized its four-team deal that returned Gary Payton II back to the Bay, but the guard won’t be ready to play right away.
Golden State pushed through the deal despite frustrations that Portland withheld relevant medical information regarding Payton’s abdomen injury.
In trading for Payton, the Warriors were hoping to add a defensive boost and a player familiar with GSW’s system who could help for the final 26 games of the regular season. Instead, the 28-28 Warriors received a player who will be physically unable to contribute indefinitely.
Warriors president and general manager Bob Myers told reporters on Monday morning that Payton II will be re-evaluated in a month.
“It was our determination he’s not ready to play right now,” Myers said. “But when we hopefully do get him back at some point — the goal would be pre-playoffs. That would be the hope, but until we get a sense of how the rehab process is going, I can’t really speculate.”
Payton underwent abdominal surgery last offseason, when he signed a three-year, $26.1 million deal with Portland. He was expected to be ready for opening night, but instead missed the first 35 games of the season.
Payton has been limited to 17 minutes per game in 15 contests.
He started against the Warriors in the last game before the trade deadline and sat with Myers during Golden State’s recent loss to the Lakers while the deal was held up in limbo.
It was reported that Payton required Toradol to alleviate pain and play for the Blazers, but his agent denied that.
The trade that reunited the Warriors and Payton was in jeopardy all weekend after Payton failed his physical with Golden State. But since it was a trade deadline deal, no compensation adjustments could be made. The Warriors filed a complaint to the league office and the NBA has since launched an investigation into whether Portland misled Golden State inappropriately.
Myers isn’t at liberty to speak at-length about the developing situation, but did offer a brief summation of what he hopes to accomplish with the investigation.
“What do I want? Whatever the NBA says is fair,” Myers said. “Whatever that is. Just want a fair result.”
Payton was a key member of last year’s title team. As a point-of-attack defender, he’s as elite as they come. Adding Payton should help sure up a defense that ranks 16th in defensive rating.
But to make an impact, Payton first needs to get medically cleared first.
“I think help, yeah,” Myers said of bringing in Payton. “But save? No. I don’t think anyone — well, certain players that got traded — but with any team, we’re all trying to win. And we’re all trying to change our team for the better. Increase our margin for error. And I think when we did that, yeah I thought it would be additive. I don’t know that anybody thinks it solves everything, but we think it was helpful. We still think it’s helpful. We just have to wait until he’s healthy.”
To receive Payton, the Warriors sent out James Wiseman in a complex four-team deal. Golden State drafted Wiseman with the second overall pick in 2020. The seven-foot center played just 60 games in three years, battling injuries and struggling to earn playing time.
Myers praised Wiseman’s personality and work ethic, saying it was tough to move a person the organization likes so much. He added he hopes Wiseman succeeds in Detroit, where he’s heading.
“I think we debated it pretty heavily,” Myers said of trading the center. “Mostly because I still believe he can be a good player. It may just be that his path required more minutes than we were able to give him. It may be that his (timeline) is longer than we can wait.”
Another reason the Warriors decided to cut ties with Wiseman, though, is their current tax bill situation. Already at a record payroll level, every dollar committed gets multiplied because they’re a repeat luxury tax payer.
Wiseman is due $12.1 million next season, meaning the Warriors will save significant salary by replacing him with Payton, who makes an average of $8.7 million annually.
“The idea was: let’s find someone we like for the next 26 games and playoffs, hopefully, as well as in the next season and the season after that,” Myers said. “We have to be careful with the amount of money we take on. In this trade, I think it saved us six or seven million this year, and just apples to apples, $30 million next year. Our payroll is big. That’s great, having the ownership group to support that. But we’ve got to be a better team. We’ve got to play better. We’re .500. It’s our job as a front office to evaluate if this team needs help, and that’s the determination we made.”
