Warriors make official decision on Gary Payton II trade saga
May 20, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers addresses the media in a press conference after naming Steve Kerr (not pictured) as the new head coach for the Warriors at the Warriors Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors have delivered their verdict on the Gary Payton II trade situation.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Sunday that the Warriors have decided to go through with the four-team trade involving the veteran guard Payton. The Warriors won’t be passing Payton’s physical though, Charania adds, but will still be moving forward with the deal.
The trade was agreed on shortly before Thursday’s trade deadline but was thrown into jeopardy when the Warriors discovered in their physical exam that Payton had a core muscle injury with the potential to sideline him for months. One report even claimed that the Blazers were pushing Payton to play through his injury and giving him pain-killing shots to do so (a claim that Payton’s agent responded to).
Since the trade deadline has passed, the Warriors only had two options — to accept the four-team trade as is or to rescind it entirely. They have decided on the former, so the other aspects of the deal (such as Kevin Knox going to Portland, James Wiseman heading over to Detroit, and Saddiq Bey going to Atlanta) will be moving forward as well.
The Warriors had some real gripes with the way that the Blazers handled business, believing that Portland negotiated in bad faith by withholding material information about Payton’s physical condition. But going through with the trade allows Golden State to save a lot of money in luxury tax and reunites them with a key piece from last year’s NBA championship team in Payton. While Payton might be out for a while, the Warriors get him out of the situation in Portland and will also now have him in their locker room as well as potentially available for a playoff run.
Additionally, it is possible the Blazers get sanctioned by the NBA over the whole mess since the Warriors filed an official complaint with the league.
