- Gary Payton II finalizing deal with Portland Trail Blazers.
- Marc J. Spears says Payton spent the previous two years with the Golden State Warriors.
- Payton has found a place in Golden State that allowed him to blossom.
Gary Payton II’s agent, the Portland Trail Blazers are close to signing him to a multi-year contract, Aaron Goodwin
Marc J. Spears says Payton spent the previous two years with the Golden State Warriors, is anticipated to sign a three-year, $28 million contract with the Blazers. According to Spears’ sources, the Warriors offered Payton the taxpayer mid-level exception.
Payton has connections to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, in addition to the Bay Area, where his father, Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton, was born. While his father was a member of the Seattle Supersonics, the boy grew up in Seattle. Payton spent two years studying and playing at Oregon State.
Payton has found a place in Golden State that allowed him to blossom after flitting around the league since his rookie season in 2016–17.
Read More: Thursday marks the beginning of the season for signing deals in the NBA
When he first entered the NBA, Payton was thought of as a point guard, but the Warriors primarily employed him as a forward and occasionally as a centre because he spent much of his time at the dunker position.
Payton’s main responsibility was as a lockdown defender, and he recorded a defensive rating of 100, ranking him 40th in the league and sixth among players who saw roughly the same amount of minutes.
He was effective in matchups against some of the top big men in the league, including MVP Nikola Jokic, and his addition of a little more shooting to his offensive repertoire (35.8 percent from 3-point range on 1.7 attempts per game) made him a more well-rounded player.
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