UPDATE: Before Thursday night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters that Gary Payton II's contract will be guaranteed by Golden State.
ORIGINAL STORY: Barring unexpected releases in the next 36 hours, Gary Payton II and Damion Lee are on the verge of securing guaranteed NBA contracts from the Warriors.
Players with non-guaranteed contracts on an NBA roster will see their deals become guaranteed officially on Monday. If a team wants to keep someone but avoid having their salary become guaranteed, the franchise would have to cut the player by Friday and have him clear waivers by Monday's deadline. It's hard to see the Warriors waiving Payton or Lee by Friday.
Despite signing a deal on opening night to be the team’s 15th man, Payton has elevated himself into a key rotation player this season for coach Steve Kerr. Lee hasn’t really been able to find a rhythm this year while missing time due to injury, health and safety protocols and the birth of his child, but is still a rotation player when healthy.
GPII seems like he’s constantly producing when he’s on the floor. Individual net ratings might not be the truest indicators of success, but his mark of +14.0 is third in the NBA for players with at least 25 games played this season, behind the San Antonio Spurs’ George Hill (15.5) and Steph Curry (14.9).
The notion of a guaranteed contract has been on Payton’s mind for at least a few weeks.
Payton’s defensive ability and versatility is paramount to his value, as he can lock up guards, wings and even spent a couple possessions guarding Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic last week. Payton has always been a high-flyer and shrewd cutter who can finish at the rim, but he’s quietly added a 3-point shot to his arsenal this season as well.
Curry joked that Payton is the tallest 6-foot-3 guy he’s ever played with, since Payton often screens and moves like a big man. He’s probably the team’s best lob threat until James Wiseman returns from injury.
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In 36 games this season, Payton has set career highs in minutes (16.9 per game), points (7.9), rebounds (3.7), steals (1.3), field goal percentage (64.1), 3-pointers made (0.8) while shooting 41.5 percent from beyond the arc. But to limit the description of Payton’s impact to numbers would be an injustice, as his energy, tenacity and intangibles are next level.
Lee has appeared in 27 contests this season, averaging 8.2 points and three rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game. His field goal percentage (43.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (35.2) are down this year, but this marks Lee’s fourth season in Kerr’s system. Klay Thompson's impending return could eat into Lee's minutes, but he provides enough shooting ability and defensive versatility off the bench to earn a guaranteed contract this week.
