Gary Payton Ii Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Notes: Payton, Wiggins, Curry, Moody

May 21st, 2022 at 6:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an article for The Players Tribune, Warriors guard Gary Payton II says there’s no lingering dispute with the Grizzlies‘ Dillon Brooks over a hard foul that left Payton with a fractured left elbow. Payton reveals that Brooks apologized outside Golden State’s locker room following the conclusion of their second-round series.

“I give Dillon a lot of credit for that — no text, no social media, nothing indirect,” Payton writes. “He came in person, and we talked like grown men. He told me he didn’t mean to hurt me. I believe him.”

Payton adds that he’s staying positive despite a three- to five-week prognosis that means he may not return before the Warriors’ playoff run is over. He says his attitude is a product of all the work it took for him to make the league and to earn a roster spot with Golden State.

“From Day One, back when I first got with this team, all I wanted more than anything was to just stick around — that was my motto,” Payton writes. “Because I knew that if I could just do that, eventually I was going to play my way into the rotation. I was going to make an impact, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind. Early on, they’d bring guys in to have a look at them or whatever, and I’d D them up like my actual life depended on it. It was like, Nope. No sir. You are not taking my spot. Not today.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Andrew Wiggins is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s Game 3, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Wiggins, who has a sore left ankle, is averaging 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the first two games of the series, MacMahon notes, and he’s been the team’s primary defender against Luka Doncic. Wiggins twisted the ankle late in the first half Friday night (video link from Anthony Slater of The Athletic). Coach Steve Kerr expects him to play, Slater adds (Twitter link).
After two years away from the playoffs, Stephen Curry is providing a reminder of how dangerous he can be in closing out games, writes Marcus Thompson of The Athletic. Curry leads all postseason scorers this year with 104 fourth-quarter points, and he’s done it in just 79 minutes. “I thought Steph kind of smelled blood in the water those last five minutes (Friday),” Kerr said, “and he got to his spots. We had good spacing, and he got in in the middle of (the) paint, and he finished. … So Steph did what Steph does, something like that.”
Kerr trusted Moses Moody to be part of his lineup that opened the fourth quarter, per Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 19-year-old rookie played nearly 10 minutes in the final quarter and registered a plus-8. “Moses is extremely mature, and what makes him special is he’s ready for any moment,” Jordan Poole said. “For him to come in and step up and play big minutes in the Western Conference finals and help us pull out a win is huge.”

Pacific Notes: Looney, Payton, Iguodala, Ham, Stotts

May 21st, 2022 at 8:31am CST by Dana Gauruder

Warriors center Kevon Looney, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, continues to pump up his value. Looney, who grabbed 22 rebounds in the clinching win over Memphis, delivered one of the top performances of his career during Golden State’s Game 2 comeback against Dallas on Friday night.

He had 21 points, 12 rebounds and no turnovers in 32 minutes while holding whoever he was guarding, including Luka Doncic, to 1-for-11 shooting, ESPN’s Kendra Andrews notes.

“Playing center for the Warriors, it’s a different type of job from other teams,” Looney said. “A lot of the scoring and stuff, we don’t really need us to do. It’s a lot of screen setting and a lot of play-making and doing different things. For me to have a game like that is cool.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

It doesn’t seem as if the Warriors’ Gary Payton II or Andre Iguodala will play in the Western Conference Finals, though both are making “progress,” the team’s PR department tweets. Recovering from a left elbow fracture, Payton has started to do light individual on-court activities and will be reevaluated in one week. Iguodala, who has missed nine games due to a disc injury in his neck, is also doing light individual on-court activities along with physical therapy and weight room training. His status will be updated when he rejoins team practices.
An Athletic report on Friday suggested that Bucks assistant Darvin Ham has emerged as the top candidate for the Lakers’ head coaching job. The Athletic’s Jovan Buha believes Ham is the right choice, stating Ham is long overdue for an opportunity to be a head coach. He also has ties to the organization as a former assistant coach there, a championship pedigree and is well-respected by players, Buha adds.
The Orange County Register’s Kyle Goon takes a look at the three reported finalists for the Lakers’ job, a list that also includes Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts. Goon believes Stotts is the most likely to find ways to make Russell Westbrook more effective but also notes that Stotts’ teams often flamed out early in the postseason.

Warriors Won’t Rule Out Gary Payton II For Conference Finals

May 15th, 2022 at 5:16pm CST by JD Shaw

Warriors guard Gary Payton II suffered a fractured left elbow in the team’s second-round series against the Grizzlies, but he could still return next round, head coach Steve Kerr said on Sunday. Payton sustained the injury on May 3 and was given a three-to-five-week return timetable.

“We’re not ruling him out of the whole conference finals,” Kerr said, as relayed by Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). “We’re not saying he’s going to play either.”

Kerr admitted it’s a “long shot” that Payton returns in the Western Finals, but suggested it’s still a possibility. Payton has served as a key cog in the Warriors’ rotation this season. In 71 games, he averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals, playing 17.6 minutes per contest.

Payton received his first career playoff start in the game before he was injured. The Warriors assigned him to be Ja Morant‘s primary defender, but Payton sustained the injury less than three minutes into Game 2. He’s considered to be one of the best defenders on Golden State’s roster.

The Warriors will open their next series against the Suns or Mavericks on Wednesday. If Phoenix advances, Golden State will start on the road, but if Dallas advances, the team will open the series at home.

Steve Kerr Returning To Warriors Bench For WCF Game 1

May 15th, 2022 at 1:57pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has exited the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will be available to coach the club in the Western Conference Finals, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Kerr had entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols ahead of Game 4 in the Western Conference Semifinals series vs. the Grizzlies. Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown, who will depart Golden State’s bench after the season to become the Kings’ head coach, stepped in for Kerr for the final three games of the series. Brown guided the Warriors to an eventual 4-2 second-round series victory.

The Warriors will be playing in their sixth Western Conference Finals since Kerr’s hiring in 2014. Golden State will face the winner of tonight’s Game 7 second-round matchup between the top-seeded Suns and the fourth-seeded Mavericks. Game 1 of the Western Finals is scheduled for Wednesday.

Kerr offered an update on the health of Otto Porter Jr., as well, noting that the Warriors forward did not partake in on-court workouts with the team, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN (Twitter link). Porter, who missed the team’s series-clinching Game 6 of the Conference Semifinals due to right foot soreness, was exercising on a stationary bike today, per Slater (via Twitter).

“I talked to him and he said he was feeling better,” Kerr said. “We’re hopeful he will be able to play Game 1.”

According to Andrews (Twitter link), Kerr also offered up an injury update on another Warriors role player, suggesting that guard Gary Payton II may become available to suit up for Golden State at some point during the next round of the playoffs.

“It would be a long shot for him to play, but I think it’s a possibility,” Kerr said.

Payton suffered a left elbow fracture at the hands of Dillon Brooks on May 3, and was initially expected to miss at least three-to-five weeks of game action. A Western Conference Finals return would be on the early side of that timeline.

Dillon Brooks Remorseful For Foul On Payton

May 9th, 2022 at 8:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks expressed remorse for injuring Warriors guard Gary Payton II during Game 2 of their teams’ Western Conference series, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Brooks spoke publicly for the first time since he was assessed Flagrant Foul 2 for his takedown of Payton, who suffered a fractured elbow.

“I didn’t mean for to hurt somebody,” Brooks said. “If I were to take it back in that moment, I would.”

Brooks served a one-game suspension but will return to action for Game 4 on Monday. Payton is out for the remainder of the series and is expected to need at least three weeks to recover.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr and several of his players felt Brooks’ hack was a dirty play. Payton tumbled to the court after Brooks fouled him on a layup attempt. Kerr added that Brooks “broke the code” of how the game is played.

Brooks wasn’t sure how to take that.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Brooks said. “It’s the playoffs. Every bucket, every pass, every possession, every play counts.”

The Grizzlies are eager to get Brooks back, especially given Ja Morant‘s injury status.

“DB’s going to be huge for us,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said. “We always talk about him being a tone-setter for us

Southwest Notes: Morant-Poole, Adams, Pelicans, Doncic

May 8th, 2022 at 3:31pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

When Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks committed a hard foul on Warriors guard Gary Payton II, in an eventual 106-101 Game 2 Memphis win, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had harsh words for the play. “There’s a code that players follow,” Kerr said at the time. “Dillion Brooks broke the code.” Payton fractured his elbow and is set to miss three-to-five weeks of postseason play with the injury. Brooks was subsequently suspended for one game.

Now that the shoe is potentially on the other foot, Alex Kennedy of Basketball News wonders if the code was broken once again in Game 3, a 142-112 Warriors win. Warriors guard Jordan Poole grabbed Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant‘s right knee on a play, and Morant subsequently left the contest with an apparent injury. Morant initially tweeted a video of the Poole foul, while quoting Kerr’s “broke the code” comment. Morant has since wiped that post.

“I don’t have a take,” Kerr said of the interaction, per Mark Medina of NBA.com (via Twitter). “There’s nothing to comment on.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

Grizzlies center Steven Adams deserves to return to the Memphis starting lineup, opines Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Though the more athletic and switchable Xavier Tillman has supplanted Adams at center for the Grizzlies’ last six contests, Cole believes the rebounding of Adams will be key for Memphis against the smaller Warriors. The burly big man is also excellent at the kinds of little plays that may not show up in box scores, such as devastating screen-setting.
The Pelicans have a variety of intriguing roster-building decisions to make during their offseason. Will Guillory of The Athletic discusses a handful of issues for New Orleans this summer, including potential extensions for new additions CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr., the team’s future at point guard, the fate of Jaxson Hayes, and more. The first part of Guillory’s series on the Pelicans’ offseason was previously linked here.
Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic has flexed plenty of playoff muscle this postseason, leading Dallas to its first second-round appearance in 11 years. Cydney Henderson of USA Today writes that Doncic proved his mettle in his winning both a EuroLeague title and EuroLeague MVP in 2018, prior to arriving stateside in the NBA draft. He has been training his whole life for this moment. Henderson notes that Doncic has been playing basketball since he was seven months old. His father Sasa Doncic was a pro in various European leagues. “I played basketball because (my dad) played basketball,” Doncic said. “I was always with him on the court. Always at the games just shooting basketballs.”

Gary Payton II Out 3-5 Weeks With Fractured Left Elbow

May 5th, 2022 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

MAY 5: Payton’s MRI yesterday revealed muscle damage on top of the fracture and ligament damage, the team announced in a tweet. He’ll be reevaluated in two weeks.

MAY 4: Warriors guard Gary Payton II will miss three-to-five weeks due to his fractured left elbow, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Payton’s MRI revealed “slight ligament damage” in addition to the fractured elbow, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic, who adds that the defensive stalwart hasn’t ruled out a possible return later in the postseason as long as Golden State keeps advancing.

Payton suffered the injury less than three minutes into Game 2 of the team’s second-round matchup with the Grizzlies after taking a hard foul from Dillon Brooks in transition — Brooks was given a Flagrant 2 for the play and ejected. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr later called the play dirty, and the league is expected to further evaluate Brooks’ foul to see if it warrants a suspension.

As our JD Shaw notes (via Twitter), Payton received his first career playoff starts against Memphis in an attempt to slow down Ja Morant, who went off for 47 points and eight assists with Payton sidelined. His absence will certainly be felt by Golden State, as he’s the team’s best defensive guard by a significant margin.

After bouncing between the G League and the NBA in his first five seasons and never finding a consistent home or role, Payton had a terrific season for the Warriors in 2021/22, appearing in 71 games (16 starts) while averaging 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals on .616/.358/.603 shooting. Though he averaged only 17.6 minutes per night, his impact was clear when he had opportunities, showcasing jaw-dropping athleticism, a knack for the ball, hustle, and strong defense and rebounding.

In his first six playoff games prior to the injury, the 29-year-old averaged 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1 steal on .727/.750/.667 shooting in 18 minutes. Since Golden State has great shooters like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, opposing teams sometimes ignored Payton offensively.

However, Kerr was creative in calling plays for Payton, who often served as a pseudo-big man on offense — catching lobs, lurking in the dunker’s spot along the baseline, and opportunistically cutting to the basket. Defensively, he was frequently tasked with covering the opponent’s best perimeter player.

Payton will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Gary Payton II Leaves Game 2 With Left Elbow Fracture

May 3rd, 2022 at 11:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

11:45 PM: Payton has fractured his left elbow, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (via Twitter). Slater notes that tomorrow’s MRI will indicate the severity of the injury.

9:33 PM: The Warriors‘ second-round playoff matchup against the Grizzlies remains chippy as Game 2 takes place tonight.

After taking a hard foul from Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks on a breakaway drive (Twitter video link, as captured by Bleacher Report), Warriors starting shooting guard Gary Payton II exited the contest and headed back to Golden State’s locker room. Brooks was instantly assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game.

The Warriors announced (via Twitter) that they have ruled out Payton for the rest of Game 2, following X-rays on his left elbow (Twitter link). Payton logged just 2:52 of game action.

Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets that the imaging on the elbow proved “inconclusive,” but that Payton would undergo an MRI tomorrow that would hopefully have more answers for the Warriors.

Payton’s Golden State teammate Draymond Green also left the game after a Grizzlies player fouled him. Memphis center Xavier Tillman elbowed Green in the face, as Trisha Easto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal recaps. Green flashed a rude hand gesture in response to the FedEx Forum crowd, which could incur an NBA fine. The Warriors revealed (Twitter link) that Green suffered a right eye laceration and received stitches. He returned to the contest after being sewn up.

Western Notes: Doncic, Green, Payton II, Wolves

May 1st, 2022 at 9:15pm CST by JD Shaw

Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic acknowledged that it will be difficult to play against Suns Defensive Player of the Year finalist Mikal Bridges, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. Dallas and Phoenix will open their second-round series on Monday night.

“They have Bridges,” Doncic said. “I know he’s going to be on me. He’s the best, in the top two guards, him and (Marcus) Smart. But it’s really tough against him. His defense is amazing. It really impresses me. But then on the offensive end, he improved so much that he’s a really amazing player.”

Bridges placed second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season, trailing only Smart. Phoenix could have its forwards defend Dallas’ star backcourt (Bridges and Jae Crowder on Doncic and Jalen Brunson), or it could task Chris Paul with defending Brunson. While he’s still a good defender, Paul turns 37 years old later this week.

Here are some other notes from the Pacific Division:

Warriors star Draymond Green was ejected in Game 1 against the Grizzlies on Sunday. Green committed a Flagrant 2 foul and riled up the crowd before exiting, as Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets. The ejection decision was met with outrage from many fans, players and league observers. Players are automatically suspended by receiving four flagrant foul points in the playoffs, meaning Green would receive a one-game suspension with one more Flagrant 2 or two more Flagrant 1’s. He was famously suspended in Game 5 of the 2016 Finals for this same reason and later declared it cost the Warriors a title.
Marc J. Spears of Andscape.com examines where Warriors guard Gary Payton II got his athleticism from. Payton attributes it to his mother, who participated in track, high jump and long jump. His father, of course, is recognized as one of the league’s all-time great defenders and a stellar athlete himself. Payton received his first playoff start against Memphis on Sunday, finishing with eight points and six rebounds in just over 23 minutes.
The Timberwolves realize that progressing after this season isn’t a guarantee and growth isn’t always linear, Dave Campbell of The Associated Press writes. Minnesota gave the No. 2 seed Grizzlies a run for their money in round one, but they ultimately lost in six games. The team has a young nucleus of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and others that could be competitive for many years to come.

Warriors Notes: Starting Lineup, Payton, Second Round

April 30th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warriors coach Steve Kerr used a small-ball starting lineup to close out the Nuggets on Wednesday night, but he hasn’t decided if he’ll keep it for the rest of the playoffs, writes Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. Stephen Curry made his first start since returning from a sprained left foot and bone bruise, and was joined by Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green in a group that created match-up problems for Denver throughout the series.

A smaller approach might fare differently against the Grizzlies, who don’t rely on a big man the way the Nuggets do with Nikola Jokic. Memphis also went smaller in its first-round series, as starting center Steven Adams played a combined seven minutes after Game 1. He is currently in health and safety protocols.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Kerr said when asked about his lineup plans. “I’m not committed to anything. I think I told you before the playoffs started, we just don’t know this team that well because we haven’t had everybody together. You start thinking about all the options, you just don’t have any evidence. You don’t have any film, you don’t have the analytics. You can’t ask our analytics department for all the lineup combinations and plus-minus, offensive/defensive ratings, all that stuff, because these groups haven’t been together.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

Gary Payton II barely earned a roster spot before the season started, but he played a huge role in the Game 5 win over Denver, notes Anthony Slater of The Athletic. With Poole having an off night and Andre Iguodala injured, Payton was on the court for almost the entire fourth quarter as Golden State rallied to win. “Our front office has done an incredible job just plucking out talent where teams might have disregarded a guy,” Thompson said. “But our system and the confidence we give guys allows them to be themselves. What a find GP was.”
The Warriors don’t have anyone else who can stay in front of Ja Morant, so Payton might have an even bigger role in this series, Slater suggests in a separate story. Payton made six of eight three-point attempts against Denver, and he may move into a starting role if he keeps shooting that well.
The Grizzlies remind the Warriors of their early days as a contender, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN. Memphis is the league’s second-youngest team with an average age of 24, and its oldest players are Adams and Kyle Anderson at 28. “They’ve built a foundation over the last few years through player development, through really smart drafting, investment, and they are really well coached,” Kerr said.