Getty Gary Payton II dunks.
The Golden State Warriors‘ elimination in the Western Conference Play-In tournament could lead to potential changes. The Warriors will have to make moves — even on the margins — to maximize the Warriors’ shrinking championship window due to Stephen Curry‘s age of 36.
A proposed trade from a reader of Sam Smith’s mailbag column on NBA.com could potentially improve those margins if the Warriors traded a href=”https://heavy.com/sports/nba/golden-state-warriors/alex-caruso-bulls-trade-moody-payton/”> Gary Payton II to the Chicago Bulls for depth players Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig, in addition to a 2028 second-round pick.
Smith, who covers the Bulls for NBA.com, did not respond specifically to the reader’s proposal, which included three other trade ideas, as well as potential draft selections and free agent targets for the Bulls.
Gary Payton II Wants to Return to the Golden State Warriors
Payton, 31, has a $9.1 million player option that he is expected to pick up. If he declines the option, he would become a free agent, taking any notion of a trade off the table.
“It would be flat-out shocking if Gary Payton II was playing anywhere other than Golden State next season,” HoopsHabit’s Dalton Sell wrote on June 10.
Payton himself said after the Warriors were eliminated in the Play-In Tournament that he would like to remain a Warrior, perhaps with a new deal that would give him long-term stability and help the Warriors dip under the luxury tax.
“I hope so, yeah,” Payton said told reporters in his end-of-season interview. “I would love to come back and run it back. Better yet, just redo my whole deal and stay here for a little bit longer. We’ll figure it out.”
Payton was a big help in the Warriors’ championship run in 2022, playing high-level defense. In the six games against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, Payton was a +35, and even scored 15 points in Game 5, tying a playoff career high.
While he was an impressive player in that 2021-2022 season, he’s struggled to stay on the court since. He played 71 games that season but has since played just 66 due to injuries.
Could Payton II Be Used in a Different Trade With the Chicago Bulls?
The Warriors didn’t have a big trade deadline, and that came as a surprise due to the team’s below-average play. However, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the Warriors “had very serious conversations about Alex Caruso” of the Bulls.
“[Warriors] had very serious conversations about Alex Caruso, Kelly Olynyk, teams were calling about Andrew Wiggins… Everybody asked for Jonathan Kuminga and they essentially said, ‘We are never trading him. He is untouchable.'”
A trade for Caruso would cost the Warriors much more than just Payton II, but he could be a better addition than Craig and Carter. Caruso, a two-time All-Defensive selection, would add another elite defender next to Draymond Green.
He’s also improved his shooting in recent seasons, shooting an impressive 40.8% from three-point range on 4.7 attempts per game last year.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes proposed a Warriors and Bulls trade on June 6 that’d send Caruso to the Warriors. The deal would move Moses Moody, Payton and a 2026 lottery-protected first-round pick.
“Caruso could help the Warriors return to form on D,” Hughes wrote. He graded out last year as the best backcourt defender in the league (among those who played at least 20 games) by Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus and has been an All-Defensive honoree in each of the past two seasons.
“One could argue Gary Payton II is close to Caruso’s level when healthy, but his 44 appearances last season were the second most of his career. For him, “when healthy” has been, well…basically, never.”
Landing Caruso would be adding a better version of Payton, who’s also played in 138 games over the last two seasons.