Gary Payton II should get a huge standing ovation from Dub Nation on Sunday evening.
The Warriors fan favorite is set to make his season debut for Golden State after going through a scrimmage Friday with no setbacks. He’s officially listed as probable for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves after overcoming a core muscle injury that has kept him out since the Warriors acquired him at the trade deadline.
“It feels good,” Payton told reporters Saturday. “Starting to feel like myself. Just excited to get out here and get back to it. Missed a lot of games this year. Really just excited to get back out with the guys on the court and ramp this up for this home stretch.”
Payton last played in a game with the Portland Trail Blazers -- against the Warriors -- on Feb. 8. He exchanged jerseys with Jordan Poole after the game and got shipped to Golden State the next day in four-team deal that sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons and five second-round picks to Portland. After failing his post-trade physical, Payton has been working behind the scenes. According to Chris B. Haynes of Turner Sports, the Warriors won't be pursuing any grievance action against the Blazers for not disclosing the full extent of his injury before the deal.
Payton has been spotted on the Warriors bench lately, getting an up-close look at this new teammates that have been added since last year’s title run. He even threw down a pretend dunk during a timeout in Friday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, but we’ll see the real thing soon.
While players like Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson are gone, the Warriors have added Donte DiVincenzo and JaMychal Green to the squad while Jonathan Kuminga has become a bona fide rotation player in Year 2.
Payton said he should have no problems reintegrating with the team, as he has a rapport with the core players like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney and Andrew Wiggins.
“(Like) riding a bike,” Payton said. “Added a couple – what do they call ‘em – pegs? On the back front. Just add ‘em and you get accustomed to ‘em. I’ve been watching so, I know what guys like to do and where guys like to be. … I’m thrilled to play with all the guys on the bench mob. Donte, J-Mike, Moses (Moody), Jonathan.”
Payton is listed at 6-foot-3 and is a menacing perimeter defender, but he often played like a power forward lurking in the dunker spot in Kerr’s system. GP2 expects to have a similar role this season.
“That’s kinda how I play,” Payton said. “Just gonna be myself out there.”
Kerr is excited to have Payton back to help with defense and the transition game, but is keeping level expectations.
“I don’t think anything is seamless in the NBA,” Kerr said. “Especially at this stage late in the year. We’ve got a lot who have guys contributed. We’ve got a lot of guys who have played really well. While it’s great to have Gary back, it does mean he’s gonna eat into some minutes of other players. That’s not easy to handle.”
Kerr didn’t want to go into specifics about whose minutes will be impacted, but perhaps Poole, DiVincenzo, Kuminga, Green and Moody could all have a chunk of their playing time decreased. Payton, who averaged 17.6 minutes per game last season, will also be on an unspecified minutes restriction to begin his return.
Payton paired well with Porter and Bjelica last year because they were stretch fours who could hit from distance. It will be a little bit different with this year’s mix off the bench, though DiVincenzo, Green and Kuminga are all capable of knocking down 3-pointers.
“He’s really mostly a four in a guard spot,” Kerr said. “He’s a very unique player. You have to have the right combinations around him to get the most out of him. One of the reasons he had a great year last year was we had lineup combinations that really made a lot of sense.”
