Latest on Warriors trade involving James Wiseman, Gary Payton II
Portland Trailblazers’ Gary Payton II (00) thanks the crowd after receiving his 2022 NBA championship ring during a pregame ceremony prior to their NBA game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California on Friday, December 30, 2022 has. (José Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors’ trade deadline postponement, which sent James Wiseman away and brought back Gary Payton II, remains in limbo Saturday night.
Golden State has until 6:30 p.m. PT Sunday to decide whether the reigning champions want to proceed with the move after Payton failed his physical on Friday. According to league rules, no changes can be made to trading. If any of the four teams fold, the entire trade is reversed.
The Warriors were surprised by the results of Payton’s physical exam, which showed his core muscle injury, which required off-season surgery, could sideline him for an extended period. Golden State has raised concerns with the league office that the Trail Blazers failed to disclose relevant medical information about Payton before the deal went down, ESPN reported.
If an NBA investigation confirms the Warriors’ concerns, Portland could reportedly face a fine and forfeit future draft picks.
Payton missed the first 35 games of the season but played 14 of the last 16 games for the Trail Blazers, including 22 minutes in Portland’s game against Golden State the night before the close.
In the hour before Thursday’s close, the Warriors handed off Wiseman to the Pistons, who sent Saddiq Bay to the Hawks and Kevin Knox to the Blazers. In return, Golden State received five second-round picks from the Hawks, though three of those picks were rotated to Portland for Payton.
The rest of the players passed their exams, but the deal depends on what the warriors will do.
Coach Steve Kerr called the whole situation “strange” although he was unable to speak directly about the trade as it remains on hold.
“It is what it is,” Kerr said ahead of Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. “There’s not much to do or say, so we’ll just wait and see how it develops.”
Payton was back in a Warriors hoodie and walking through the Chase Center weight room after team practice Friday, but was not seen Saturday. A look into the dressing room showed that he had chosen a spot between Ty Jerome and Moses Moody for himself, with a No. 8 jersey hanging in his dressing room.
In the meantime, the Pistons have already put up a Wiseman poster in their arena, but he has one more game to play for Detroit as they wait for the trade to close.
The Warriors made the difficult decision to move away from Wiseman in hopes of continuing to capitalize on Stephen Curry’s prime while also putting them in a position to compete in the Western Conference, which begins this week with Kyrie Irving’s additions to the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Durant became stronger to the Phoenix Suns.
Payton’s unavailability for the foreseeable future has upset the Warriors’ plans.
Bringing Wiseman back to a team that has already shown a willingness to change course and abandon its development would create an uncomfortable environment for everyone involved. Wiseman returned that season and played 21 games off the bench for the Warriors but never seemed to match the pace of the NBA, averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. He shuttled back and forth between the NBA team and the Warriors’ G-League affiliate in Santa Cruz. He had stayed with the NBA team for the past few weeks but didn’t see time in the rotation.
In any case, the long-term benefits of trading could outweigh the short-term costs. The move would save the Warriors about $37 million in luxury taxes. It also reunited Golden State with Payton, a key element of the rotation during last year’s championship run. The hope is that if Payton is healthy, he could give a boost to the Warriors, whose lack of depth has minimized the team’s error rate this season.
What the Warriors do has yet to be seen. They have less than 24 hours to decide, leaving the rest of the three teams involved waiting at the edge of their seats along with worried fans.