SAN FRANCISCO — Write it in pencil, not pen, but Gary Payton II is expected to return to court for the Warriors Sunday at the Chase Center against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Payton struggled with the Warriors on Friday and was a full participant in the team’s light practice on Saturday. The Warriors officially list him as likely, and Payton will be warming up with intentions to play.
“It feels good,” Payton said Saturday after the Warriors’ practice session. “I’m starting to feel like myself. I’m just looking forward to getting out there and getting back to it. I’ve missed a lot of games this year so I’m just ready to get back on the pitch with the lads and kick things off for the home stretch.”
The Warriors recaptured Payton from the Portland Trail Blazers at the NBA trade deadline Feb. But he hasn’t played since then.
His last game actually came on February 8 as a member of the Blazers against the Warriors. However, when he arrived in San Francisco after the trade, Payton failed, to the Warriors’ surprise. Payton has been dealing with ongoing pain from a right adductor/core injury following off-season surgery.
Finally, after missing the Warriors’ last 20 games and being out for more than six weeks, Payton is feeling the healthiest he has been all season.
“I feel more and more like myself,” Payton said. “Starting the year to process all the little aches and little bumps and bruises from the off-season. I’m feeling pretty good.”
Payton’s return is undoubtedly a huge advantage for the 39-36 Warriors as they continue to push for NBA playoff positioning. His return gives a different look to the warriors at either end of the square. It also means fewer roles for a handful of players.
More than ever, coach Steve Kerr is preaching to the Warriors an “us-over-me” attitude. The defending champions need strength in numbers to be successful. They also need players who put the team above themselves, which is a lot easier said than done.
There’s no telling yet who will take a backseat to Payton. Anthony Lamb comes to mind, as does Moses Moody. JaMychal Green could be affected if the Warriors leave with ultra-small lineups.
Kerr also knows that Payton’s unique abilities make him an interesting piece of the puzzle. He’s listed at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. These metrics scream point guard. Not in Payton’s case, though. The 30-year-old plays the power forward in Kerr’s system, excels in the dunker role and can defend several positions.
Last season, Payton gave Golden State its best two-man cast in Steph Curry. Per 100 possessions, Curry and Payton compiled a net rating of 16.9 with an offensive rating of 115.2 and a defensive rating of 98.3. Payton makes life easier for the Warriors’ top scorers, and the same goes for defensive stars like Draymond Green.
“A lot of people can be influenced by Gary’s minutes,” Kerr said Saturday. “First we have to see where Gary is physically – how well he can play, how he feels. He’s really mostly a 4 in a guard’s body, so he’s a very unique player. So you need to have the right combinations around him to get the best out of him. That was one of the reasons he had a great year last year was because we had lineup combinations that really made a lot of sense. The year before we had I think Gary the last month of the season we didn’t have that much ground clearance and it was harder to hook him up.
“We need to find the combinations that make the most sense, but that could mean any number of minutes on a man could be compromised.”
For how much impact Payton will have defensively, he also brings a change of pace offensively. He goes to the races. He cuts to the basket. He’s willing to throw poster dunks to the head of a 7-footer.
All of that was missing from the Warriors, who struggled with the transition. That’s an additional element that Kerr likes to unleash.
“Yeah, it’s a big deal for us to score in the transition period,” Kerr said. “We are a team that likes to run to the 3-point line. And there are times we need some easy baskets and I think that’s something Gary did for us last year, the ability to finish with power and speed before the shot blockers can get there, we missed that. We’re actually one of the weakest teams in the league in terms of transition points per possession, which when you’re a fast team like us, it’s not a great stat.
“We need to do a better job here on the track and in the playoffs with conversions and transitions and Gary will definitely help.”
The assumption is that Payton will be a perfect fit – pun intended – once again for these warriors. He knows the offense. He knows the defence. And he played with the core and won a championship a season ago.
Pump the brakes. At least that’s what Kerr is trying to do and lower expectations for a player who hasn’t seen game action in well over a month.
“I don’t think anything in the NBA is going smoothly, especially at this point at the end of the year,” Kerr said.
To a certain extent, Payton disagrees.
“Like riding a bike,” Payton said when asked about moving back into the rotation. “Add a few extra pegs to the back. I have to get used to it. I’ve watched, so I know what guys like to do, where they like to be. It will be like riding a bike.”
The Warriors have seven regular-season games left before Sunday’s showdown with the Timberwolves. After Friday night’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers, they now have more wins than the fifth-placed Phoenix Suns (38-35) and the same number of wins as the fourth-placed Los Angeles Clippers (39-35) ahead of both Western Conference opponents playing Saturday .
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Since it was clear that Payton would be out for at least a month, the Warriors’ goal was to let Payton play a handful of games before the playoffs. Appearing in three or four would have been positive. If he can get seven games under his feet before the actual season starts, that’s a win for the Warriors.
Barring last-minute changes, this scenario plays out perfectly for the Warriors, who have won three games in a row.
“It’s important for his conditioning,” Kerr said. “It’s also important for our other players who haven’t played with him before. And it would be one thing if he’d been with us all year and it would be a much easier transition, but the fact that he doesn’t have the been here the whole time.” Season means there are a number of guys on our team who really haven’t played with him and it takes some time to find combinations and patterns and things like that.
“It would be great to have those last seven games and hopefully that puts us in a good position going into the postseason.”
A season that has had more unexpected lows than highs on a consistently inconsistent roller coaster is trending in the right direction at just the right time. Payton has so often been the piece of the puzzle that put the Warriors together a season ago.
It may take some time, adjustments are needed. In Payton’s eyes, however, he’s ready to ride his bike through the hallways of the Chase Center and let his Warriors teammates climb aboard.
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