Gary Payton II Trade In Limbo With Failed Physical
A bombshell report came from The Athletic’s Shams Charania today that the four team deal between the Warriors, Pistons, Trail Blazers, and Hawks may not hold up due to a failed physical from inbound Warriors returner, Gary Payton II. The trade, which moves James Wiseman to Detroit and a myriad of players and picks around between the other two teams, was finalized during Thursday’s deadline but was still pending the success of the physical.
Charania noted in this developing story that the Warriors have 24 hours to finalize the full trade, or the deal will be entirely rescinded as if it never happened.
The news comes as a big shock considering Payton II has played in the last 9 games with the Blazers. While he had abdominal surgery at the start of the season, it appears the rehab process has not gone entirely according to plan given the surgery covers the same injury Golden State’s medical staff has flagged.
However, reporting with The Athletic’s Warriors writer Anthony Slater, Charania indicated that Payton II has been playing through injury at the encouragement of Portland’s medical staff. From their article:
“Sources added that the Blazers training staff had been pushing [Payton] to gut through it, giving him Toradol shots. This had not been relayed to the Warriors' during the negotiation process.”
The full article from The Athletic can be found here.
The finalizing of the trade now hangs in the balance until the Warriors front office makes the decision to either keep Payton and wait out the 2-to-3 month timeline, or cancel the whole deal and bring back Wiseman, presumably to deal him later in the offseason.
At the moment, there is no indication of how Golden State will proceed. However, the nature of the deal likely means they’ll plan on informally passing the physical to ensure the trade goes through. Part of the move being to relieve them of Wiseman’s current and future salary implications in regards to the tax will likely be a major factor, as well as Payton remaining under contract for the remainder of this season and next, until his player option for the 2024-2025 year.
Warriors reporter and 95.7 “The Game” Jason Dumas did say that, per sources, GP2 would undergo further testing with a second x-ray later today to help determine the severity of the injury.
There are some questions that need to be answered though, particularly in regards to the Portland Trail Blazers medical staff. Toradol has been under scrutiny in the past, to the point that the National Football League’s players association even sent out a memo urging against its use in anticipation of pain. With this information not relayed to the Warriors, questions about practices within the Blazers organization, especially in regards to player safety, should be abound in the near future.
(Photo credit: David Zalubowski / Associated Press)