Six months after he left the Golden State Warriors and signed a multi-year free-agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, guard Gary Payton II will return to the Bay Area.
Payton was dealt just before Thursday’s trade deadline, ESPN reported, with the Blazers receiving five second-round draft picks in return. The deal also reportedly included the Detroit Pistons, who will send forward Kevin Knox to the Trail Blazers.
Payton, 30, played just 15 games with the Trail Blazers after having offseason surgery to repair a core muscle. He scored 4.1 points with 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 17.0 minutes per game.
In Game 2 of last season’s Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies, Payton came away with a fractured left elbow as well as muscle and ligament damage. He was expected to be out for a month but returned to play five games in the NBA Finals and helped the Warriors to the title.
The Warriors have struggled to defend their title this season and are 28-27 while in ninth place in the Western Conference. The Blazers enter play Thursday a game worse in 10th place, although both teams currently qualify for the postseason play-in tournament.
On Wednesday, the Blazers earned a 125-122 victory against the Warriors, with Payton starting for Portland and scoring nine points in 22 minutes.
Payton has averaged 5.1 points 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 157 career games (40 starts) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Warriors and Blazers.
Knox, 23, has averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 42 games (one start) with the Pistons this season. He has averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 254 career games (62 starts) over five seasons with the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and Pistons.
Also Thursday, the Warriors reportedly received five second-round picks from the Hawks in exchange for forward Saddiq Bey, acquired earlier from the Pistons for center James Wiseman.
–Field Level Media
