Warriors Get Response From Blazers Over Shady Gary Payton Trade

Getty Images Head coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors.

The Portland Trail Blazers responded to a report that they did not negotiate in good faith with the Golden State Warriors in a trade that reunited the defending champs with guard Gary Payton II.

Payton failed his physical on Friday, which has put the four-team trade on hold. Payton is dealing with a core muscle issue that could sideline him up to three months.

The injury was known about by the Blazers, per The Atheltic, and Payton — who signed a three-year, $26 million deal this offseason — was being told to push through the pain. They did not let the Warriors know about the injury during negotiations.

“Payton, according to sources, had been playing through pain in Portland,” The Athletic’s Anthony Slater reported. “Sources added that the Blazers training staff had been pushing him to gut through it, giving him Toradol shots. This had not been relayed to the Warriors during the negotiation process.”

The Blazers countered that report with a statement from general manager Joe Cronin.

“Player safety is super important to us,” Cronin said. “I mean, it’s a super important thing around the league. We were playing him. He was playing and he had been cleared and we were confident that he was healthy when he was playing. We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or if he was at risk.

“So, you trust that we did the right thing, we trust that our process was correct, and these reports, I think … the clearance process was proper, so I’ll have to rely on that.”

Trade Being Rescinded Would Cause Unique Issues

The Warriors have until February 11 to make a decision on the trade, with the unfortunate reality that calling it off could result in some very awkward situations.

The Warriors traded for Payton ahead of the deadline as part of a four-team deal with the Detroit Pistons, Portland Trail Blazers and Atlanta Hawks. The Pistons received former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, the Trail Blazers got Kevin Knox (via Pistons) and five future second-round picks (via Hawks) and Atlanta picked up Saddiq Bey.

All those players would go back to their original teams if the trade is nullified, including Wiseman, who would reenter the Warriors’ locker room after feeling like the team gave up on him.

“There’s a lot of things that would make undoing this deal pretty awkward,” Slater during an interview on 95.7 The Game’s Damon & Ratto. “If they decide they’re best course of action is to rescind the deal, it’d be awkward. But sports are sports. You get paid what you get paid. It could happen. It’s post-deadline so there would be an awkwardness to it. But if it has to happen, it has to happen.”

It also causes some financial conundrums. The Warriors were expected to save $7 million in luxury tax this season and roughly $30 million during the 2023-24 NBA season.

Warriors ‘Upset’ Over Situation With Payton

The Warriors were ecstatic to have Payton back in the building but the situation around his injury has the team upset, considering he wouldn’t be able to contribute until May if the reports of his injury are to be believed.

“The Warriors have been pretty upset today about the situation, the negotiations with Portland and how this all went down,” Slater said. “They’re trying to figure out what their path forward is. They made this deal because they wanted a ‘win-now’ player. Their ‘win-now’ player cannot play now and they didn’t know that before the deal.”

Payton missed the first 35 games of the season with his new team in Portland and is averaging 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17 minutes per game. But he proved last year that he can provide a strong defensive presence for the Warriors and is well-liked in that locked room — evident by the social media posts from key players like Stephen Curry after the move.