Warriors Champ Would ‘Absolutely’ Request Trade If New NBA Rumors Are True

Gary Payton II has been a key piece of the Golden State Warriors for a half-decade as a backup guard and one of the team’s top perimeter defenders. However, Payton revealed that he is more than willing to ask for a trade from Golden State if the latest NBA expansion  rumors do in fact come true.

Payton’s father, Gary Payton Sr., was the franchise star for the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1990s. While the younger grew up in Seattle watching his dad lead the team to a Finals birth in 1996 and major success in the NBA, he said that if the NBA expansion rumors are true, and his hometown does get a new team, he would ‘absolutely‘ want to join them.

“Respectfully. I love it here so much. But if we do (have a Seattle team) when I’m still here, I definitely want to go back and play there,” Payton said to Nick Friedell of The Athletic. “I would want to go for sure. Absolutely.”

Payton is averaging 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 54.1% shooting in 55 games for the Warriors this season, close to his career averages with the team he’s played with in all but 15 games since the start of 2020.

Warriors Could Lose Gary Payton II If NBA Expansion Rumors Come True

Although the SuperSonics left Seattle in 2008 for a move to Oklahoma City and subsequent rebranding to become the Thunder, the city has clearly never forgiven the NBA for the move. Now, with expansion rumors ramping up over the past few months, Seattle remains a top candidate to regain a professional basketball team, one Payton would be more than willing to request a trade from the Warriors to join. 

“Request a trade to Seattle,” Payton said. “Probably.”

Payton went on to detail his positive memories of being in Seattle watching his dad lead the SuperSonics. He added that, although he hasn’t been back much since his own NBA career began, he missed out on the chance to play in the team’s arena due to an injury during a brief stint with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2022-23 season.

“We had a game in Seattle, in Key Arena, it’s something new now. I don’t know the new arena name, but I still call it Key Arena, but I didn’t play,” he said. “I was hurt — it killed me so bad. It just killed me. But they still showed love. I can just imagine if they did get a team and I went back, they would probably show the same love and reciprocate the same love.”

Both Seattle and Las Vegas have been the two cities that will likely land an NBA expansion team, should the league choose to make that decision. The SuperSonics won the NBA Finals in 1979, and while they saw success with Payton and Shawn Kemp in the 1990s, the franchise was taken away from the city due to an ownership complication. 

“It’s one of the sports that they took away that they were passionate about,” Payton said. “The basketball was just a different aspect out there, a different feel for people just to go and show their love and be passionate about the sport at the time — and they were pretty good…I think they’re rallying to get the basketball team back.”

The city has clearly not forgotten and would be more than happy to get back into the NBA landscape.

“To be able to see them, to be able to go there and we have an opportunity to sit down and watch a game,” he closed with. “Hopefully they can do it here in a few years so I can possibly go back and put on a Seattle SuperSonics jersey… Even if I do play for them or not, it will be good for the city of Seattle and good for the NBA.”

Warriors Injury Report, Gary Payton Injury Update

While Payton would be open to joining Seattle should they get a new team if the NBA expansion rumors come true, he remains a member of the Warriors. Payton is currently out with an ankle injury, as he’s missed the team’s last two games.

However, he is fourth on Golden State in games played this year, but has missed a few stretches this season with other lower-body injuries. His ankle issue isn’t expected to be a long-term concern, but for now, he remains on the injury report.

The Warriors also have Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody, Seth Curry, and Will Richard on the injury report, none of whom played in the team’s last contest against the Houston Rockets.

Amid what has already been a disappointing season for Golden State, the injuries to Curry, Butler, and Porzingis have been the most concerning for a team that looks to be teetering on the verge of a collapsing dynasty.

Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski