The Warriors' trade for Gary Payton II finally is complete after an interesting twist, but the 30-year-old won't be suiting up for Golden State any time soon as he deals with a lingering injury.
But Payton is set to be reevaluated in a month, general manager Bob Myers said Monday, and the Warriors are hopeful their NBA trade deadline acquisition will be healed in time to contribute to a potential playoff run.
"Gary's going to be out, from our standpoint -- we're going to re-evaluate him in a month and see where he's at," Myers said. "But it is our determination he's not ready to play right now. but when we get him back -- hopefully we get him back at some point -- the goal would be pre-playoffs. That would be the hope, but until we get a sense of how the rehab process is going, I can't really speculate."
Sitting ninth in the Western Conference with a 28-28 record as of Monday, the Warriors traded for Payton in hopes he could give them a boost. But their four-team deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks, which also shipped former No. 2 pick James Wiseman to Detroit, was in danger of falling apart after Payton failed his physical upon arriving in the Bay.
The Warriors determined Payton still was dealing with a core muscle injury, which he underwent offseason surgery to address, and issued a complaint with the league office over Portland's alleged nondisclosure of Payton's injury. The NBA is investigating the Trail Blazers as a result, and Myers said Monday he hopes for a "fair" outcome.
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Dub Nation certainly hopes Payton's recovery is a speedy one now that he's back in the hands of the Warriors' capable training staff.
Because with less than two months of the 2022-23 regular season left, Golden State needs all the help it can get as the team looks to run it back.
