The Warriors are guaranteeing the remainder of Gary Payton II‘s $1.94MM salary this season, coach Steve Kerr told Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link) and other media members.
It’s no surprise Golden State will retain Payton. It was reported two weeks ago that it was likely the Warriors would keep him around.
Payton has been a regular part of the rotation, appearing in 36 games (seven starts) and averaging a career-best 7.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 16.9 MPG.
All players still under contract will have their salaries fully guaranteed for the rest of the 2021/22 season on Monday but the true deadline is tomorrow, since waivers must be requested. Damion Lee is the other Warrior without a fully guaranteed salary.
Well deserved. Payton has the 2nd highest Player Efficiency Rating amongst Warriors players, at 21.3.
Seems to impact the game every time he is on the court.
Factor in his Pops is a Northern California Legend and him playing for the Homteown team is a match made in Bay Area heaven.
Agreed. The guy has been all they asked for and more…
Son of the Glove, he is THE MITTEN!
Fits Warriors well. Brings the energy always. He’s earned it give him credit.
The dilemma is the next year. All W’s fans love GP2 and we all wonder what it will take to bring him back and other key W’s who will be unrestricted FAs. W’s simply dont have money to give them a raise because of luxury tax implications.
Birrrrrd riiiiiights. Poole, JTA, Lee, etc are all covered regardless of the $. GP2 likely signs a 1yr deal so the warriors obtain his bird rights then they can pay him after next season. They do this.
They’re hoping guys like Moody, Wiseman, and Kuminga(ya know, the three Top 15 picks they just got) will help with the guys that leave, and some guys won’t leave.
However, the Warriors got these guys on the minimum, without their MLE, because these guys weren’t chased by ring chasing teams. The dubs struck out on Patty Mills, Nic Batum, etc. After a season like last year, it made sense the FA vets didn’t see them as 2021/22 contenders, however if they’re a 55-65 win team, AND Klay’s healthy, you can bet your bottom dollar the veteran free agents will come.
And who knows if Bjelicia wants to move again? He’s been in Sac most his nba career and obviously wasn’t fond of his trip to Miami. Perhaps the 34yo big wants to stay? They can double his 2021/22 salary just by giving him half their 2022/23 MLE. Same with Porter. These guys are here on MINIMUM deals, the kind of deals that a capped up team can sign all day long without issue. Plus, after next season Wiggins’ deal is up and that $30m off the books, likely reshuffled for Jordan Poole and other Bird-Rights assets. Perhaps even to bring back Andrew Wiggins as he seems like he could be a great mentor to young guys that were highly touted prospects, like Wiseman/Moody/Kuminga?
I think that’s why Dray was so fond of kuminga predraft, I bet he saw a more filled out Wiggins without the bad habits he learned as with the TWolves. Who knows. But I’m not concerned about the Warriors financial situation. They find value. Plus, the appeal of playing with Steph/Klay/Dray at full strength has brought the likes of Barbosa/Livingston/West/JaVale/Barnes/Zaza/DURANT in addition to Porter/Bjelicia/Iggy this season. Guys want to play with those dudes. They did about as well as any team would without 60% of their team salary on the court in 2019/20, and without 35% in 2020/21, and most of 2021/22. We haven’t seen this Warriors team at full strength since the 2019 playoffs, and they were banged up then too!
This season has already proved that a healthy Steph and Dray with a liiittle bit of help can be more than competitive, but dominant. You don’t think next year’s round of FA ring chasing vets aren’t interested?
The Bay Area and this ownership group is super appealing to guys with only a year or two left in the tank, because of our ownership’s ties to Silicon Valley. Iggy set himself up with post-NBA income, and that security means a lot to these guys. Of course every owner is a rich guy with a cell phone full of contacts, but the Warriors don’t owe anyone for their stadium AND have the highest payroll every year for a reason. They’ve gone 10 years with this just do it style of spending and players appreciate an owner’s willingness to win. But those same vets notice Lacob hasn’t traded Dray just to save some money either.