It got a bit lost in the shuffle of Thursday’s trade deadline activity, but one of the more interesting moves at the deadline was the Trail Blazers trading away guard Gary Payton II after he had appeared in just 15 games with the team. Payton was dealt just seven months after Portland beat out rival suitors to sign him to a three-year contract as a free agent.
One source tells Jason Quick of The Athletic that one key reason for the move was that Payton had indicated he didn’t want to be in Portland anymore — he was “ecstatic” to be sent back to the Warriors, according to that source.
It’s a worrying sign that so many players the Blazers trade seem so enthusiastic about leaving Portland, Quick writes, pointing to Norman Powell, Robert Covington, Larry Nance Jr., and Josh Hart as other recent examples.
Quick also questions how Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant (who has been offered an extension) might view the Blazers’ deadline moves, which included trading Payton and Hart and acquiring flawed or unproven young players like Cam Reddish, Matisse Thybulle, and Kevin Knox.
Head coach Chauncey Billups had been hoping to add size and experience to the roster, but Portland’s deals this week accomplished neither and may result in the team taking a step back in the short term. As Quick writes, the Blazers will have to hope that Lillard and Grant still believe in the team’s long-term plan.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- When Bones Hyland left the Nuggets‘ bench out of frustration in the fourth quarter of a Jan. 22 game against Oklahoma City, it represented a tipping point, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who says that incident didn’t sit well with a number of Denver’s veterans and led to the team exploring Hyland’s trade market in earnest. According to Singer, Hyland’s poor fit alongside Jamal Murray, his defensive lapses, and his displeasure with his role were all factors that led to him being dealt. Still, trading the second-year guard was a difficult decision that went up to ownership, sources tell The Denver Post.
- The Jazz and guard Jordan Clarkson aren’t expected to reach an agreement on an in-season extension, but sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic that Utah remains very open to continuing its relationship with Clarkson beyond this year. The 30-year-old can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer by turning down a $14.3MM player option for 2023/24.
- The Timberwolves‘ acquisition of Mike Conley signals the team’s commitment to improving the fit for Rudy Gobert, who developed chemistry with Conley in Utah, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “I love Mike,” Gobert said on Wednesday. “I just love the way he plays the game — the way he makes people around him better, his professionalism, the way he plays to win and his selflessness, and I love him as a person too, so obviously I’m happy.”
Payton leaving Portland should be a knock on them because they only traded him after trading for another defensive specialist. That was too good of a trade to pass up 5 draft picks for 1 player they just resigned.
They could’ve traded Wiseman for draft considerations after last season and used the money saved to resign Payton. Then they’d have Payton, draft assets and the money saved.
The issue there is that the Warriors wouldn’t have been able to add DiVincenzo if they’d resigned Payton. Now they have both.
Bob Meyers is not a great GM just a lucky one. Wiseman’s injuries set him back so far now by the time he is a productive player he will be a free agent. Warriors are way to top heavy with older players. They also not the best at drafting needed players. Meyer should be drafting productive players they can use not projects. Projects need playing time which warriors do not have.
@ARC not the best at drafting players? Are you insane? Steph, Draymond, Klay, Poole, looney…i mean c’mon man. Do you even k ow basketball? Myers isn’t a good GM? But pat riley is? Heat have two championships….
Give me good money then trade me
I ecstatic to play for Warriors
Blazers end up with Reddish and Kevin Knox, former Knicks
Lucky Charms are magically delicious
The scariest thing is that Warriors start with 6’2″ Payton at PF and 6’6″ Draymond at C
Mismatch
Yeah it killed them last year. They were terrible in the playoffs
5-2nds looks like a rebuild. Jason Quick is a Portlander, and there is nothing but ??? surrounding the Blazers FO, and ownership. Like I said before, I am not sure whether not trading Lillard is a sign of incompetence, or a sign of loyalty? Portland did a better job in the past communicating with its fan base, but it has been pretty bad the last 5 years.
With these trades, they continue to reset the clock on luxury taxes, get a chance to see if they can play enough defense to compete next year, and they have enough draft picks to either go full rebuild or trade for another star in the offseason.
This half-way rebuilding at the deadline 2 seasons in a row is definitely a roller coaster.
This season has been far better than last season, so I can’t criticize them too much just yet.
Paying Lillard, signing Grant, and having Simons eat up $25 million in cap is an interesting concept for a rebuild!
Yes, I’m thinking if they stink for the rest of the year, and Reddish or Thybulle don’t pan out, at that point, trading Lillard will still be possible, and the full rebuild could begin. Otherwise, they have Nurk to offload + lots of draft picks (1st and 2nd rd) to go upgrade the roster.
I feel like trading a 6’3” player and wind up with a 6’7” and a 6’8” player has added size. The talent is not equivalent, but they did add size.
Ofc GP2 was ecstatic to go back to the club that saved his career and where he won a championship. How can that be an example? Larry Nance Jr played on a tanking team and barely played then, too. Norman Powell and Josh Hart were basically too small to play alongside two other small back court players, so their interest in leaving seems reasonable.. and RoCo, I didn’t realize he was happy to go to the bench on another team, but the championship buzz around LAC and the great weather probably had something to do with it.
This is just lazy or biased reporting by Quick. He’s long had an axe to grind with some within the Blazers organization.
Hart posted on twitter this morning “Special thanks to the Portland Trailblazers. The organization is full of special and amazing people. I will always cherish my time there. Was short but relationships that I’ll have for a lifetime ❤️”.
So either Quick doesn’t quite have the pulse of the team that he thinks he does, is lazy or biased.
Portland made some real dumb moves.
Reddish Knox and Thybulle all 1 year contracts on young wings. They already have young wings with Little, Johnson, Sharpe and Winslow.
The moves they made are dumb when your trying to win now. And as the article says why are players so happy to be leaving Portland?
These aren’t NBA divas, young players wanting minutes or veterans ring chasing it’s solid and respected role players.
Depending on how this plays out I think it might be time for a new GM
Coach Billups wanted to add size and experience. Why not flip GP2 for 5 seconds then use those 5 seconds to get Jae Crowder (that’s what his price was). Instead of the Thybulle and Josh Hart deals should’ve tried to jump into the Wiseman deal and got Sadiq Bey for Nassir Little. Then lastly use Josh Hart to get Pat Bev from Orlando.
Dame Simons Crowder Grant Nurkic
Pat Bev Sharpe Bey Winslow Eubanks
Crowder Bev and Bey would’ve added a lot more defence, been solid fits in the locker room and make this team a lot strong competing for a title.