SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ trade for Gary Payton II has been put on hold as the team works through the ramifications of a failed physical, a source confirmed to this news organization.
Payton’s core muscle injury that needed offseason surgery could sideline him for significant time, sources said. A specific timeline has not been laid out, but The Athletic’s Shams Charania indicates it could be up to three months.
The Warriors traded two second-round picks to Portland for Payton at Thursday’s deadline as part of a four-team trade with the Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. Golden State sent James Wiseman to Detroit and rerouted big man Saddiq Bey to Atlanta for five second-round picks, which went to Portland along with former Piston Kevin Knox to bring Payton back to the Bay Area.
Payton was seen at Chase Center in Warriors gear following team practice on Friday, though the initial press conference for Bob Myers was canceled and head coach Steve Kerr told reporters he was “not at liberty” to discuss the trade. Golden State has until Sunday, 72 hours after the noon deadline, to nullify the entire trade or move forward. By league rules, no modifications can be made to the trade. If any of the four teams back out, the entire trade is reversed.
The news caught the Warriors’ brass off guard. Payton played 22 minutes in the Blazers’ game against Golden State the night before the trade deadline. The Athletic reports that Payton was playing through pain and taking Toradol shots to help him play through it — something that was not told to the Warriors during the trade process.
“Player safety is super important to us,” Portland general manager Joe Cronin said of the reports to reporters on Friday. “We were playing (GP2), he was cleared, and we were super confident he was healthy. We wouldn’t be playing him if he wasn’t healthy or at risk. You trust we did the right thing and our process was correct. These reports, if you knew … the clearance process was proper, I’ll have to rely on that.”
Payton signed a three-year, $26.1 million contract with Portland this offseason after winning the 2022 NBA championship with the Warriors. He’s under contract for the next two years, including a player option for 2024-25.
