The Golden State Warriors were unable to retain all of their key pieces after they won another championship, and the decision to let a particular player go was clearly not unanimous.
Gary Payton II signed a three-year contract with the Portland Trail Blazers when he started out as a free agent. The Warriors are expected to lose several players this summer, but the veteran keeper isn’t one of them. What’s particularly surprising is that Golden State decided not to split Payton $9 million per season, even though he would have cost them a lot more because of their luxury tax situation.
Based on The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, several members of the Warriors organization were “burned out” when Payton signed with Portland. Payton is seen as a valued member of Golden State’s championship core. For a team that has essentially ignored the luxury tax in recent years, the failure to re-sign Payton is a surprise.
The 29-year-old scored 7.1 points per game last season. He also played key minutes on the bench in the knockout stages and was a great defensive player. You can understand why he would be missed, but his departure is not something to celebrate for the Warriors.
