Gary Payton II’s return to the courts could not be long in coming. As the Golden State Warriors have assured, the point guard is doing more and more exercises on the track and will be evaluated again in 10 days, at which time perhaps a date can be set for his first game in this new stage in the San Francisco franchise.
Payton returned to the Warriors at the market close in a move that was up in the air for several days after, during a physical, he was detected with an injury that Portland had not reported. Golden State claimed to the NBA that the Blazers had hidden both this information and the fact that Gary had needed painkillers to be able to play the 15 games he has played this season, although they finally ended up confirming the transfer and recovering one of their key pieces in the ring of 2022. However, its impact could not be as immediate as they would have liked, since it has not yet been able to be released since its arrival.
We will see what conclusions the medical services reach after this new evaluation, although it is to be hoped that if the Warriors accepted the transfer it is because they count on being able to use Payton this season. His defensive aggressiveness made him a key piece of the second unit last year, and in this season, in which they are having more problems to be a dominant team, said impact could come in handy. But for that, they need him to be fully recovered.
(Cover Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
