Gary Payton Ii Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Kings, Lakers, R. Wallace, Payton, Poole

June 6th, 2022 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Kings are willing to listen to inquires on the No. 4 overall pick in this month’s draft and are open to making a move with it if the price is right, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat, who explores a handful of options the team will have with that lottery selection.

As Ham writes, it would be an easy decision for the Kings to keep the pick if Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith is available, but they’ll likely be gone by No. 4, along with Paolo Banchero. Jaden Ivey is widely viewed as the fourth-best prospect in the draft, but would be a risky bet alongside De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento’s backcourt, given his defensive limitations and inconsistent three-point shot.

Still, in Ham’s view, if the Kings hang onto the pick and view Ivey as the best player available in that spot, they should be willing to roll the dice on him — if he and Fox prove to be a poor match, the Kings can cross that bridge when they come to it.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Asked today about the status of Rasheed Wallace, Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway said Wallace may be headed to the Lakers to join Darvin Ham‘s coaching staff, per Jason Munz of The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). Wallace was an assistant with the Tigers in 2021/22.
Gary Payton II returned to the Warriors‘ rotation on Sunday for the first time since fracturing his left elbow in the Western Semifinals vs. Memphis and made an immediate impact, writes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. As Slater details, Payton – whose point-of-attack defense helped slow down Boston in Game 2 – looks capable of playing a major rotation role going forward.
Through the first six quarters of the NBA Finals, Warriors guard Jordan Poole struggled against a Celtics defense he describes as “extremely lengthy,” according to Slater. However, he got going in the second half of Game 2 on Sunday and finished with 17 points. Poole, who was 5-of-9 on three-pointers, will be looking this series to put the final touches on his case for a lucrative offseason extension.

Warriors Notes: Green, Poole, Iguodala, Payton

June 4th, 2022 at 10:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Draymond Green believes he needs to “completely raise my play a couple more notches” after a poor shooting night in the Warriors‘ Game 1 loss, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com. Green made just 2-of-12 shots, giving him four points to go with three turnovers and six fouls. He also took the blame for the Celtics’ offensive outburst in the fourth quarter as they posted 40 points while turning a 12-point deficit into a 12-point victory.

Medina notes that Green has a history of bouncing back after bad outings, especially in the playoffs. His teammates expressed total confidence that will happen in Sunday night’s Game 2.

“No other scenario where I see playing out any differently than him coming out with great energy and focus,” Stephen Curry said. “He takes all that stuff personally in terms of his standard and what he knows he can do out there on the floor. When he doesn’t meet that, he’s usually pretty honest and accountable to himself to the team.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Golden State’s veterans are rallying around Jordan Poole, who had a disappointing performance in his first NBA Finals game, Medina adds. Poole was just 2-of-7 with four turnovers, and Curry suggested that it may have had something to do with being on such a big stage for the first time. “Maybe slow down just a little bit to see the pictures a little bit better,” he advised. “But he doesn’t have to change anything about the way he plays, the way he attacks or where he feels the most confident in terms of making an impact on the game. You just have to be able to bottle up those emotions.”
Andre Iguodala has been a steadying influence on Poole throughout his breakout season, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Iguodala, who rejoined the Warriors prior to the start of the season, can offer Poole the experience of an 18-year NBA career and seven trips to the Finals.
Gary Payton II told reporters after today’s practice that he’s not feeling any more pain in the left elbow that was fractured during the second-round series with Memphis, Johnson writes in a separate story. Payton sat out the series opener, but said he’ll be ready if coach Steve Kerr decides to use him in Game 2. “I’m available, ready to go, just waiting on the call,” Payton said.

Western Notes: Payton II, Warriors, Kings, Murray, Spurs

June 4th, 2022 at 4:20pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted not to play Gary Payton II in Game 1 because he thought Payton’s elbow needed more time, as relayed by Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). Payton was active in Game 1 for the first time in nearly a month.

Payton suffered a fractured left elbow against Memphis in the Western Conference Semifinals after appearing in just 25 minutes that series. He has served as a key cog off Golden State’s bench this season, averaging 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 17.6 minutes per game.

Although he was held out of Game 1, Payton could still receive playing time in Game 2, Kerr said. The Celtics scored 120 points to win Game 1 on the road, shooting 51% from the floor and three-point range. The team’s fourth-quarter spark was led by Jaylen Brown — who could be matched up against Payton as the series progresses.

There’s more from around the Western Conference today:

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic explores how the Warriors could improve their chances of winning Game 2. Golden State led for most of Game 1, but Boston surged in the final period mostly due to hot shooting. The Celtics won the fourth quarter 40-16 after losing the previous three 92-80.
Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee makes a case for why the Kings should draft Keegan Murray with the No. 4 pick later this month. Murray, a 21-year-old forward, averaged 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with Iowa last season.
Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Insider link) constructs a mock draft for the Spurs, who own the No. 9, No. 20, No. 25 and No. 38 picks in the event. San Antonio is one of four teams with multiple first-round picks. Givony believes the team should target Memphis big man Jalen Duren at No. 9 overall.

Porter, Iguodala, Payton, Williams Will Suit Up For Game 1

June 2nd, 2022 at 6:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton II will all suit up for Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link) and other media members.

Reports had indicated that Payton was on track to return for the Finals but that statuses of Porter and Iguodala were more uncertain.

Payton has been sidelined since May 3 after suffering a fractured left elbow in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series against Memphis.

Iguodala hasn’t played since Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup with Denver on April 24 due to a left cervical disc injury in his neck. Porter has been nursing a sore left foot since Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. All three players were listed as questionable after going through contact at practice on Wednesday.

The Celtics will have starting center Robert Williams in the lineup, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. Also listed as questionable, Williams played only 15 minutes in Boston’s Game 7 win over Miami. He missed Game 3 of the series due to soreness in his surgically-repaired knee.

Warriors’ Gary Payton II “On Track” For Game 1 Return

June 2nd, 2022 at 10:37am CST by Rory Maher

Warriors defensive ace Gary Payton II is “on track” to return to action for Game 1 of the Finals against Boston on Thursday night, sources tell Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Slater cautions (via Twitter) that Payton might not return to the rotation immediately, but his availability gives coach Steve Kerr another option to utilize going forward. Slater adds that “there’s optimism” Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr. will be available for Game 1 as well.

Payton has been sidelined since May 3 after suffering a fractured left elbow in Game 2 of the Warriors’ second-round series against Memphis. Reports surfaced that he’d miss approximately three-to-five weeks at the time, and last Friday Charania and Slater said Payton was expected to be available for the Finals, possibly as soon as Game 1.

Iguodala, the 2014/15 Finals MVP, has been out even longer, last playing in Game 4 of Golden State’s first-round matchup with Denver on April 24 due to a left cervical disc injury (neck). The 38-year-old veteran was limited to 31 regular season games this season while dealing with a variety of ailments.

Porter’s left foot soreness is more recent, popping up during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against Dallas on May 22. All three players were listed as questionable after going through contact at practice yesterday.

The Warriors’ depth has shone throughout the playoffs, with all 14 players (minus injured center James Wiseman) receiving minutes this postseason, so potentially having a (nearly) full complement of players will be huge boon as Golden State attempts to win its fourth title in the past eight years.

Warriors Notes: Iguodala, Payton, Porter, Front Office

June 2nd, 2022 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

Warriors wing Andre Iguodala isn’t prepared to say whether or not he intends to continue his NBA career beyond this season, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com.

“We’ll wait until we see how it ends. It can go either way with wins or losses,” Iguodala told Medina. “I know my answer. But I don’t want to put it out in the world. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Due to a left cervical disc injury, Iguodala hasn’t seen any action since Game 4 of the Warriors’ first-round series vs. Denver. He made it through practice on Wednesday without restrictions and said he’s “doing everything I need to do around the clock” in an effort to be available for the NBA Finals, according to Medina.

For now, Iguodala is listed as questionable for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, as are Gary Payton II (left elbow fracture) and Otto Porter Jr. (left foot soreness), per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Like Iguodala, Payton and Porter took contact in Wednesday’s practice. The Warriors will announce closer to game time whether the three veterans will be active for Thursday’s contest.

Here’s more on the Warriors:

In an interesting story for The Athletic, Anthony Slater and Marcus Thompson II examine some of the new additions the Warriors have made to their front office in recent years and the role those individuals played in many of the moves that have worked out for the team. Executive director of basketball analytics Pabail Sidhu, for instance, leads the team’s “refurbished” analytics department that identified Porter and Nemanja Bjelica as preferred free agent targets last summer.
Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Draymond Green expressed appreciation for the opportunity to once again be playing in the NBA Finals after two tough seasons. “I have a much larger appreciation for it now than I did (from 2015-19) because it was kind of all I knew,” Green said.
Tim Kawakami of The Athletic and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne (Insider link) revisit two trades that played important parts in getting the Warriors to where they are today: the 2019 sign-and-trade acquisition of D’Angelo Russell, and the subsequent deal that flipped Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and the first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga. If Golden State hadn’t turned Kevin Durant‘s departure for Brooklyn into a sign-and-trade deal for Russell, the team would’ve lost a maximum-salary slot and that second trade for Wiggins wouldn’t have been possible.
In case you missed it, Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers said the team’s rising payroll won’t impede a new deal for Jordan Poole. Our full story is here.

Warriors Notes: Porter, Iguodala, Payton, Looney

May 31st, 2022 at 5:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Injured Warriors role players Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr., and Andre Iguodala were all able to fully partake in a relatively light team practice on Tuesday, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. The team has a full contact practice scheduled for Wednesday. According to Slater, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr indicated he should have a better sense of the injured players’ availability for the start of the series following that session.

There’s more out of Golden State:

Payton is “trending” toward being a game-time decision for Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals, slated to tip off on Thursday, per Shams Charania of Stadium (Twitter video link). “We still got some boxes to fill,” Payton said of his availability, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (via Twitter). Payton has been sidelined since suffering a left elbow fracture in Game 2 of the Warriors’ conference semifinals series against the Grizzlies.
Payton won the NBA’s 2021/22 Bob Lanier Community Assist Award this season, the Warriors announced in a press statement. The honor is meant to reward players for outstanding community outreach. The league and award sponsor Kaiser Permanente will donate $75K to Payton’s charity, the GPII Foundation, which helps young people struggling with language-based learning disabilities.
Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic has helped Golden State starting center Kevon Looney gobble up rebounds like never before, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Thompson notes that Looney is grabbing 21.6% of possible rebounds when on the court during the 2022 playoffs. Should the trend continue, that would be a top-50 all-time postseason rebounding rate. “Rebounding is something that I’ve always enjoyed,” Looney said. “I made a lot of strides this year. I feel like I’ve always been pretty good at it. I always have my moments. But this year I’ve been way more consistent, and really more locked in on it, and that’s been able to make a difference.”

Pacific Notes: Ham, Lakers, Kings, Warriors

May 29th, 2022 at 1:52pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Newly-hired Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is earning high praise from those who know him, according to Broderick Turner and Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times.

Ham, who was a Lakers assistant coach from 2011-13 and won a title against L.A. as a player on the Pistons in 2004, has served as an assistant under head coach Mike Budenholzer with the Hawks and Bucks for the past nine seasons. The Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship with Ham on Budenholzer’s staff.

“His work ethic in practice and when we put him in the game, he always seemed to deliver,” former Knicks head coach and current Indiana University coach Mike Woodson said of Ham. “So, you knew that the fact he got into coaching, I knew it would work because that’s a big part of being a good coach. You got to work.”

Metta Sandiford-Artest, who played on the Lakers teams where Ham first cut his coaching teeth as a development assistant under Mike Brown, also had high praise for Ham. “He definitely understands modern basketball,” Sandiford-Artest said. “He also is capable of communicating in a way where you can receive it the right way.”

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

The Lakers held workouts on Saturday for six NBA hopefuls, per Matthew Barrero of Lakers.com. Baylor guard James Akinjo, Connecticut guard Tyrese Martin, Syracuse forward Cole Swider, USC guard Drew Peterson, Texas A&M guard Quenton Jackson, and Alabama guard Keon Ellis all got a look from the L.A. front office brass. Though Los Angeles does not possess a draft pick this season, the team could trade into the second round or sign an undrafted rookie as a free agent. “There is a good side to it if you’re able to choose your team,” Ellis said. “Even if it happens to be myself, you can’t get too down on it or overthink it. There’s been guys who have gone undrafted and come back with great stories.”
The Kings, who possess the fourth pick in the 2022 draft, had at least two key representatives take a look at several high-level prospects during recent pro day workouts in Southern California, writes Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. Team owner Vivek Ranadive and GM Monte McNair attended a CAA pro day workout for Purdue shooting guard Jaden Ivey and Duke small forward AJ Griffin. McNair attended an additional pro day with another top-10-level player, Arizona shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin, Anderson notes, examining the potential fit of each player.
Injured Warriors role players Gary Payton II, Otto Porter Jr. and Andre Iguodala will be gradually included in team practices ahead of the 2022 NBA Finals this week as they continue to recuperate from their respective ailments, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). The club has leaned on 2021 lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody for help in the absence of Payton, Porter and Iguodala.

Gary Payton II Expected To Return In NBA Finals

May 27th, 2022 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors have been without their best backcourt defender, Gary Payton II, since he suffered a fractured left elbow early in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals vs. Memphis. However, it appears that Payton is on track to return to the court during the NBA Finals.

Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (video link) that Payton is expected to be play in the Finals and could even be available as soon as Game 1 next Thursday.

The Warriors never put out an official announcement estimating Payton’s recovery timeline, but Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports was among those who reported that the 29-year-old was expected to be sidelined for three-to-five weeks — that was a little over three weeks ago. If Payton is able to suit up for Game 1 of the Finals next week, he’ll be 30 days removed from having sustained the injury.

While it remains to be seen whether or not Payton can be as effective as he was before breaking his elbow, he could help the Warriors out significantly on defense if he’s anywhere close to 100%, giving them another option to throw at players like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart (if the Celtics advance) or Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Victor Oladipo (if the Heat make a comeback).

As we detailed last weekend, Payton has said there’s no lingering bad blood with Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks, whose hard foul resulted in the awkward fall that caused Payton’s injury.

Pacific Notes: Batum, Ayton, Payton, Kings, Lakers

May 25th, 2022 at 1:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the French online show First Team, veteran forward Nicolas Batum was asked about his future and suggested that he plans to remain with the Clippers for the foreseeable future, as Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints relays. Batum, speaking in French, said what translates to “Tyronn Lue saved my life,” heaping praise on the Clippers’ head coach.

Batum, who has a $3.33MM player option for the 2022/23 season, was waived by Charlotte during the 2020 offseason and signed a minimum-salary contract days later with the Clippers. He has revitalized his career in the last two years in Los Angeles, starting 92 of 126 games and averaging 26.2 MPG.

“Whenever you have a player speak on you like that, it’s a great feeling because that’s what it’s all about,” Lue told Azarly when asked about Batum’s comments. “It’s about the players and trying to get the best out of players. A lot of times, the players bring the best out of a coach as well. For Nico, a guy who has been in this league for a long time and a great veteran player, just to have him say those words, that means a lot.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link) considers it extremely unlikely that the Suns will let restricted free agent Deandre Ayton walk for nothing or that Ayton will accept his one-year qualifying offer. In Gambadoro’s view, a new deal between Ayton and the Suns, a sign-and-trade agreement, or an offer sheet that the Suns match are the only realistic outcomes.
Gary Payton II (fractured left elbow) is beginning to increase his on-court activity, according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, who posted a Twitter video of Payton going through a workout on Tuesday. Assuming the Warriors finish off Dallas, it still seems possible Payton could return at some point in the NBA Finals, Slater adds.
Trevion Williams (Purdue), JD Notae (Arkansas), Tyson Etienne (Wichita State), and David McCormack (Kansas) are among the prospects that worked out for the Kings on Monday and Tuesday this week, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Anderson wonders if the Kings could end up drafting two Boilermakers, with Jaden Ivey in play at No. 4 and Williams a potential target in the second round.
Dan Woike and Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times take a closer look at Darvin Ham, Terry Stotts, and Kenny Atkinson, breaking down the pros and cons of each of the Lakers’ reported head coaching finalists.