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Warriors File Complaint Over Gary Payton II Trade

February 12th, 2023 at 11:31am CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA has started an investigation of the Trail Blazers for possibly providing misleading information after receiving a complaint from the Warriors regarding a four-team trade involving Gary Payton II, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Payton failed a physical with Golden State’s medical staff after being acquired from Portland on Thursday. The Warriors have a deadline of 9:30 pm Eastern time today to decide whether to keep Payton or rescind the entire deal, which would also affect the Pistons and Hawks.

The Warriors’ doctors determined that Payton has a core muscle injury that could keep him out of action for up to three months. The injury prevented him from playing until January 2, but he had been a regular part of the Blazers’ rotation since then.

Portland general manager Joe Cronin spoke to reporters about the situation on Friday, saying he didn’t do anything to mislead the Warriors.

Payton played an important role in Golden State’s run to a championship last season, and the team saw him as a way to upgrade its perimeter defense. He left last summer in free agency, signing a three-year deal with Portland worth more than $26MM.

In the trade, the Hawks acquired Saddiq Bey from the Pistons; the Pistons acquired former lottery pick James Wiseman from the Warriors; the Trail Blazers acquired Kevin Knox from the Pistons, three second-round picks from Atlanta, and two second-rounders from Golden State; and the Warriors re-acquired Payton from Portland, along with two second-round picks from Atlanta.

None of those players are able to take the court for their new teams until the Warriors announce their final decision.

Warriors’ Decision On Gary Payton II Trade Due By Sunday Night

February 11th, 2023 at 6:06pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Warriors must decide by 9:30 pm Eastern time on Sunday whether to rescind a four-team trade in the wake of Gary Payton II‘s failed physical, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. He adds that Golden State may take another day to evaluate Payton’s condition and determine if it’s in the team’s best interest to keep him.

Sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that Warriors officials believe the Trail Blazers withheld important information about Payton’s condition prior to the trade, which was completed shortly before Thursday’s deadline. Payton is dealing with a core muscle injury that Golden State’s medical staff says could sideline him for up to three months. The muscle issue prevented Payton from making his season debut until January 2, but he has been playing regularly since then.

Portland general manager Joe Cronin insists the Blazers were completely open in trade negotiations, saying Friday that the organization was “confident that he was healthy.”

At stake is a complex trade in which the Hawks acquired Saddiq Bey from the Pistons; the Pistons received former lottery pick James Wiseman from the Warriors; the Trail Blazers landed Kevin Knox from the Pistons, three second-round picks from Atlanta and two second-rounders from Golden State; and the Warriors re-acquired Payton from Portland, along with two second-round picks from Atlanta.

Because the trade deadline has passed, the terms of the deal can’t be altered, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Initial reporting indicated that might be an option after news broke about the failed physical, but Marks has learned that accepting the trade in its current form or rescinding it entirely are the Warriors’ only choices.

Marks reports that the NBA issued a reminder to each team last week that medical information on players had to be fully disclosed in trade talks (Twitter link). The Warriors could ask the league to investigate (there’s precedent for a team being retroactively rewarded a draft pick in such a case), but Marks notes that it could take weeks or months to complete and wouldn’t help the team with its current decision.

Multiple league sources tell Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area that Golden State is strongly considering holding on to Payton, even if he’s out of action indefinitely. Poole notes that the Warriors’ perimeter defense has been an issue lately, and Payton showed last season that he can make a difference as a point-of-attack defender.

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic first reported that Golden State would have until Sunday to make a final decision on the Payton trade.

Western Notes: LeBron, Warriors, Mavs, Vassell

February 11th, 2023 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Medical imaging conducted on LeBron James‘ injured left foot this week didn’t show any damage, but the Lakers star will miss a second consecutive game due to what the team is calling left ankle soreness, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. The Lakers have officially ruled out James for Saturday’s contest vs. Golden State.

Chris Haynes said on his latest #thisleague UNCUT podcast with Marc Stein that LeBron’s foot issue was bothering him quite a bit during Tuesday’s game against Oklahoma City, when he broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record.

“I was told LeBron was severely struggling with that foot injury he has,” Haynes said. “It’s something that’s been nagging him for a few weeks already, but it gets to points where it just gets unbearable, and he plays through it. … The way it was explained to me is that might be something that lingers all season long.”

Although the Lakers will be without James on Saturday vs. Golden State, they’ll get a chance to see several of their newly acquired players in action, with D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Davon Reed all expected to be available, according to McMenamin. Mohamed Bamba is still serving a suspension that he earned while he was with the Magic.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Tim Kawakami of The Athletic (Twitter link) hears from a source that the Warriors actually have until Sunday evening, not Saturday evening, to finalize a decision on whether or not to nix their four-team trade with the Trail Blazers, Pistons, and Hawks due to Gary Payton II‘s failed physical. However, Kawakami notes that the Warriors probably don’t want to drag out the situation any longer than they have to and could make their call sooner.
Speaking on Friday to reporters, including Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison discussed the Kyrie Irving trade, why he doesn’t think the team needs another ball-handler, and whether the club will be looking to add one more free agent. “We’re going to look at it closely,” Harrison said of the buyout market. “If there’s something we think can help strengthen our bench, then we’ll definitely do it, for sure.” Dallas is reportedly considered a frontrunner to sign Terrence Ross if and when he’s bought out by Orlando.
Spurs wing Devin Vassell told Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link) on Friday that there’s still no “set date in stone” for his return from a left knee procedure, but he said it definitely won’t happen until sometime after the All-Star break.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

February 11th, 2023 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of Thursday’s trade deadline, several rosters around the NBA remain in flux. Some players will be waived or bought out in the coming days, while others will sign with new teams as free agents, either on 10-day contracts or rest-of-season deals.

With that in mind, we’re doing a Saturday afternoon check-in on open roster spots across the league. Given how much action we expect on the transaction wire in the coming days, it may not take long for this list to become outdated, but this is a snapshot of where things stand as of 1:00 pm Central time on February 11.

With the help of our roster counts page, which will continue to be updated for the rest of the season to account for each new transaction, here are the teams that currently have open roster spots:

Teams with two open roster spots:

Milwaukee Bucks
New York Knicks
Phoenix Suns

These three teams all sent out more players than they received in trade-deadline deals and are carrying just 13 players apiece on standard contracts.

Technically, NBA teams are required to carry a minimum of 14 players on standard contracts, but they’re allowed to dip to 13 for up to two weeks at a time, so these clubs will have until February 23 to fill at least one of their two openings.

Teams with one open roster spot:

Boston Celtics
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
- Note: The Hornets are reportedly likely to buy out Reggie Jackson, which would open up a second roster spot.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Lakers
Miami Heat
- Note: The Heat’s 14th roster spot is occupied by Jamaree Bouyea, who is on a 10-day contract, so they’ll open up a second roster spot when his deal expires during the All-Star break.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Note: The Thunder have a full 15-man roster, but one of their two-way contract slots is open.
Philadelphia 76ers
Utah Jazz

We’re still waiting to see which players are officially bought out, but more roster spots will open when those moves are completed. For instance, the Magic currently have a full 15-man roster, but would create two openings if they finalize buyouts for both Terrence Ross and Patrick Beverley — they’re said to be in talks with both players.

The Jazz would open up a second spot on their 15-man roster if they buy out Russell Westbrook.

The Rockets and Pacers currently have full 15-man rosters, but will create openings by officially waiving John Wall and Serge Ibaka, respectively. However, the expectation is that they’ll re-sign Boban Marjanovic and James Johnson, respectively, to fill those newly opened spots.

The Wizards are in a similar situation — they’re reportedly working on a buyout with Will Barton, but the expectation is that they’d use their 15th roster spot in that scenario to promote Jordan Goodwin from his two-way deal. That would create a two-way opening for the team.

Finally, while the Mavericks and Pistons technically have full rosters at this time, each team’s 15th man (Chris Silva for Dallas, Stanley Umude for Detroit) is in a 10-day contract, so they’re both in good position to open up a spot if they need it.

And-Ones: Taxpayers, Cap Room, Traded Cash, Sims, Lue, More

February 11th, 2023 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

Prior to the trade deadline, 10 NBA teams projected to be taxpayers this season and the 20 non-taxpayers were each projected to receive $17.2MM as a result of those tax penalties, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

However, one of those 10 taxpayers – the Sixers – ducked below the tax line with a deadline deal, and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades reduced Brooklyn’s projected end-of-season tax bill by approximately $100MM, Marks notes. As a result of those changes, among others, the luxury tax distribution at the end of the season will now be split among 21 teams and will be worth a projected $14.5MM, based on current team salaries, says Marks.

Danny Leroux of The Athletic also considers the financial impact of a busy trade deadline week, though he’s looking ahead to the offseason, breaking down which teams project to have the most cap room in the summer of 2023.

Leroux anticipates there will be eight teams with the ability to generate significant cap space, ranging from the Rockets at $61MM to the Pacers at $28MM. The Spurs ($40-48MM), Jazz ($31-45MM), Magic ($22-58MM), Hornets ($27-37MM), Thunder ($31MM), and Pistons ($30MM) are also in position to operate under the cap, Leroux writes. The range in projections for some of those teams is related to decisions on options and non-guaranteed salaries.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report has the details on the cash that changed hands at the trade deadline. In a series of tweets, Pincus reports that the Lakers sent $2MM to Magic in the Mohamed Bamba trade, the Suns sent $1MM to the Thunder in the Darius Bazley trade, the Clippers sent $1MM to the Hornets in the Mason Plumlee trade, and the Nets sent $1.36MM to the Pacers in the four-team Durant blockbuster.
Who will be available on the buyout market in the coming weeks? John Hollinger of The Athletic lists and ranks 32 buyout candidates (or players who have already been cut), starting with veteran guards Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson.
Circling back to a pair of pre-deadline stories: Knicks center Jericho Sims has committed to take part in this year’s dunk contest after Trail Blazers rookie Shaedon Sharpe dropped out, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). And Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue will replace Suns head coach Monty Williams as an assistant on Steve Kerr‘s Team USA coaching staff, per a press release.
Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that his company doesn’t plan to sell ESPN, according to Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic, who adds that Iger expressed a desire for ESPN to retain NBA rights when the league negotiates its next media deal.

Blazers GM Cronin Defends Handling Of Payton’s Injury

February 10th, 2023 at 9:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin denied that the team did anything wrong in its medical treatment of Gary Payton II, saying that the reserve guard had been “cleared” to play and the organization was “confident that he was healthy,” Bill Oram of The Oregonian tweets.

The four-team trade involving the Warriors, Pistons, Trail Blazers and Hawks is in jeopardy after Payton failed to pass the Warriors’ physical exam on Friday. Though the trade has been announced as official, players still had to undergo physical exams.

Payton has a lingering core muscle injury that could sideline him for up to three months, according to the exam by the Warriors’ medical staff. Payton underwent surgery in the offseason to address a core muscle injury and was sidelined until early January.

He has been playing regularly since his return, including a 22-minute stint against Golden State on Wednesday in which he scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds.

However, Payton has been playing through pain and the Blazers training staff has been giving him Toradol shots to help him stay on the court, according to a report by The Athletic. That information wasn’t relayed to the Warriors during the negotiation process, The Athletic adds.

Cronin defended the Portland organization and medical staff.

“Player safety is super important to us, it’s a super important thing around the league,” he said. “We were playing him, he was playing. He had been cleared. We were confident he was healthy when he was playing. We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or he was at risk, so you trust that we did the right thing, and you trust that our process was correct.”

The Warriors have until Saturday to decide whether to nix the complex deal.

Gary Payton II Fails Physical; Four-Team Trade In Jeopardy

February 10th, 2023 at 6:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Gary Payton II has failed a physical exam, placing the four-team swap involving the Warriors, Pistons, Trail Blazers and Hawks in jeopardy, Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of The Athletic report.

Payton has a core muscle injury that could sideline him for up to three months, according to the exam by the Warriors’ medical staff.

Though the trade has been announced as official, players still had to undergo physical exams. The Warriors have until Saturday to call the complex trade off, according to Charania and Slater.

In the deal, the Hawks acquired Saddiq Bey from the Pistons; the Pistons acquired former lottery pick James Wiseman from the Warriors; the Trail Blazers acquired Kevin Knox from the Pistons, three second-round picks from Atlanta, and two second-rounders from Golden State; and the Warriors re-acquired Payton from Portland, along with two second-round picks from Atlanta.

Payton’s debut with Portland was delayed until Jan. 2 due to a core muscle injury. He has played regularly since returning to action, including a 22-minute stint against Golden State on Wednesday in which he scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds.

However, Payton has been playing through pain, according to Charania Slater, and that the Blazers training staff has been giving him Toradol shots to help him stay on the court. That information wasn’t relayed to the Warriors during the negotiation process, The Athletic’s duo adds.

The defensive ace was a key member of the Warriors’ championship rotation last season and Golden State felt he could have a similar impact on its bench this season.

According to Charania and Slater, there have been behind-the-scenes discussions on Friday about possibly amending the trade. The amount of parties involved complicates matters.

Wiseman Will Get Long Look In Detroit

February 10th, 2023 at 5:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said newly acquired center James Wiseman will get plenty of playing time, even though the team seemingly has an overload of bigs, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.

“He needs to play,” the Pistons’ top executive said. “With your talent, if you don’t use it, you lose it. We need him to get back out there to use his talent and be confident as a player.”

Weaver also indicated the Pistons needed another quality big man to combat the top teams in the Eastern Conference, who have regularly pushed them around, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press tweets. “You don’t have a chance (without size). Point blank period. We need some men and some size,” he said. “We haven’t beaten those teams yet. If you look at those games, we’ve usually struggled on the glass.”

Central Notes: Cavs, O’Neale, Crowder, Wiseman, Noel, Pacers

February 10th, 2023 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman has made 14 in-season trades since taking the reins in Cleveland’s front office in 2017, but he had an uncharacteristically quiet deadline this season. As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes, the Cavs are one of just two teams (along with Chicago) that hasn’t made a trade since the 2022/23 season got underway.

“We just didn’t feel like anything was going to really move the needle for us,” Altman said on Thursday. “Scoured the market and talked to every team I could. We could have made a move that was lateral, multiple moves that were lateral, that I didn’t think appreciably made us better. I really wanted to see what this group looked like together, fully healthy, and the potential of this group, which we’ve seen right in front of our eyes, continue to grow.”

Royce O’Neale, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cameron Johnson, Grant Williams, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Bojan Bogdanovic were among the top targets on the Cavaliers’ wish list, according to Fedor, but the team either didn’t have the assets to acquire those players or deemed the asking prices too high.

Sources tell Fedor that the Cavs made a strong push for O’Neale and tried to line up other deals to get the Nets the sort of assets they wanted, but Brooklyn – which was seeking more than a first-round pick – didn’t bite.

“I think there’s value in continuity,” Altman said. “I think there’s value in giving this group a runway. Sometimes you just say to yourself, ‘Don’t mess this up.’ I think that was a big key for us this deadline. It was not easy for me. We’re the fifth-best team in the NBA right now — 35 wins, which is the fourth-most in the NBA — and some really good numbers to back up what I think you guys see on the court every day. I didn’t see anything that was going to put us over the top.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required) explores what Jae Crowder can bring to the Bucks and contends that hanging onto Grayson Allen through the trade deadline was a win for the team, since he’s having a strong two-way season.
Adding former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman to an already crowded frontcourt in a trade that sent out Saddiq Bey may be Pistons general manager Troy Weaver‘s biggest gamble yet, argues Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscription required). James L. Edwards III of The Athletic spoke to colleague Anthony Slater about what to expect from Wiseman in Detroit, with Slater noting that the young center still has a ways to go on the defensive end.
After not being included in a deadline deal, Pistons center Nerlens Noel has been listed as “not with team” on the club’s injury report, Edwards notes (via Twitter). Noel isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond this season and finds himself buried even further down the depth chart following Wiseman’s arrival, so he could be a buyout candidate.
The Pacers‘ relative inactivity at the trade deadline reflected president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard‘s desire not to shake up his core or disrupt the chemistry that the current roster has built, says Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). As Dopirak observes, Indiana’s lone deadline deal was primarily about using their remaining cap room to add more draft assets, but it will also give the team to take a low-risk look at young wing Jordan Nwora.

Pistons Sign Stanley Umude To 10-Day Contract

February 10th, 2023 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

Rookie wing Stanley Umude has earned a call-up from the G League, as the Pistons announced on Friday that they’ve signed him to a 10-day contract. Umude had been playing for Detroit’s NBAGL affiliate, the Motor City Cruise.

Umude signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pistons during the offseason after going undrafted out of Arkansas and spent training camp with the team, but didn’t earn a regular season roster spot.

Since being waived at the end of the preseason, Umude has appeared in 31 total games for the Cruise — 18 in the Showcase Cup and 13 in the G League’s regular season. In those 31 appearances, he has averaged 14.3 PPG and 4.9 RPG on .402/.356/.754 shooting in 27.0 MPG.

Detroit had an open spot on its 15-man roster after completing a two-for-one trade on deadline day, sending out Saddiq Bey and Kevin Knox in a deal for James Wiseman. As a result, no corresponding roster move will be necessary to make room on the roster for Umude, who will earn $58,493 during his 10 days as a Piston.

Because the Pistons play three games before the All-Star break, Umude’s 10-day contract won’t extend beyond All-Star weekend. It will run through February 19, at which point Detroit will have the option of signing him to a second 10-day deal.