NBA Rumors: Golden State Warriors Player Who Could Request a Trade Soon

Gary Payton II has been an important piece in the rotation of the Golden State Warriors for about five years. The guard has established himself as a supporting player on the perimeter and one of the team's best perimeter defenders. However, the player himself has acknowledged that he would be willing to request a trade if the rumors of NBA expansion are realized.

The reason has a strong personal component. His father, Gary Payton Sr., was the star of the Seattle SuperSonics in the nineties. Payton II grew up in Seattle watching his father lead the team, which even made it to the NBA Finals in 1996 and experienced a period of great success in the league.

Therefore, if the NBA ends up expanding the league and Seattle regains a franchise, the current Warriors player is clear about his desire. “With all due respect. I love being here. But if we have a team in Seattle while I'm still in the league, I would definitely want to return to play there,” he explained to Nick Friedell of The Athletic. “I would definitely want to go. Absolutely.”

This season, Payton is averaging 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists with a 54.1% field goal shooting in 55 games with the Warriors, figures very close to his usual averages with the team. Since the beginning of 2020, he has played all his NBA games with Golden State except for 15.

Seattle, a city that wants to recover its team

The SuperSonics left Seattle in 2008 after relocating to Oklahoma City, where they became the Thunder. Since then, the city has not forgiven the NBA for that departure. In recent months, rumors about a possible league expansion have intensified, with Seattle emerging as one of the top candidates to regain a franchise.

In that scenario, Payton admits that he would not hesitate to try to return to his city. “I would request a trade to Seattle. Probably,” he admitted. The player also fondly recalled his childhood in Seattle, when he would go to the arena to watch his father lead the SuperSonics. Although since starting his NBA career he has barely returned, he did have a recent opportunity that ended up falling through.

During the 2022-23 season, when he briefly played for the Portland Trail Blazers, the team had a game in the city. However, Payton couldn’t participate due to injury. “We had a game in Seattle, at Key Arena —even though it has a different name now, I still call it that— and I couldn’t play,” he explained. “I was injured, and it hurt me a lot. It killed me. But even so, the people showed me love. I can only imagine that if they had a team and I returned, they would show me that same love.”

Seattle is, along with Las Vegas, one of the cities with more possibilities to receive a franchise in case of expansion. The SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979 and had another standout period in the nineties with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, before ownership-related issues led to their departure from the city.

“It's one of the sports they were stripped of, and for which they felt a great passion,” Payton explained. “Basketball there had something different, a special feeling for people to go to the arena, show their love, and live sport with passion... and also the team was very good. I think they are fighting to recover basketball.”

A benefit for the city and the NBA

The guard also emphasized that the return of the NBA to Seattle would be positive both for the city and for the league itself. “Being able to go there, sit down, and watch a game... I hope it happens in a few years so that maybe I can return and put on a Seattle SuperSonics jersey,” he remarked. “Even if I didn’t get to play there, it would be good for the city of Seattle and good for the NBA.”

Meanwhile, Payton remains part of the Warriors. He is currently out with an ankle issue and has missed the team's last two games. Still, he is the fourth player for Golden State with the most games played this season, although he has also missed some stretches of the season due to other lower-body discomforts. His ankle injury does not seem serious, but for now, he remains on the medical report.

The same report also includes Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody, Seth Curry, and Will Richard, none of whom participated in the team's last game against the Houston Rockets. Curry, Butler, and Porzingis' injuries are particularly concerning for a Warriors team that is having a disappointing season. The accumulation of physical issues threatens to destabilize a team that seems on the verge of the collapse of a dynasty that dominated the NBA for years.