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Not so fast! Huge four-team trade between the Warriors, Pistons, Hawks, and Trail Blazers ‘could be de-railed due to concerns over Gary Payton II’s health’
One of the more convoluted deals from the NBA’s trade deadline could all come crashing down over the health of one player.
On Thursday, a four-team deal between the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, and Portland Trail Blazers saw a whopping nine assets get moved.
Golden State started things by trading center James Wiseman to Detroit for guards Saddiq Bey and Kevin Knox.
Then, the Warriors moved Bey to the Hawks for five second-round picks. Golden State then immediately packaged those picks – plus the recently acquired Knox – to Portland for Gary Payton II.
However, recent concerns over Payton’s health are jeopardizing the entire deal and could lead to it being canceled altogether.
A fourteam trade could fall apart over concerns for the health of guard Gary Payton II
Payton had abdominal surgery in the offseason that kept him out until January this season
According to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, the concerns stem from the physical exam Payton underwent at Golden State.
Payton had abdominal surgery in the offseason that left him out of the initial 35 games of the season for Portland.
Golden State has until Saturday to finalize the deal, otherwise the entire trade will be rescinded.
Due to the passing of the trade deadline, Golden State cannot amend the deal it made.
It’s unclear if canceling the trade would result in every player going back to their original team or if this would result in the Warriors owning all the assets they had prior to the Payton trade (five second-round picks and Knox).
The Warriors have until Saturday to cancel the trade and cannot make any adjustments
Blazers management said that Payton had since recovered from his injury enough for him to be cleared to play.
‘Player safety is super important to us it’s a super important thing around the league,’ Blazers general manager Joe Cronin said.
‘We were playing him, he was playing, and he had been cleared and we were confident that he was healthy when he was playing.
‘We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or if he was at risk. So you trust that we did the right thing and trust that our process was correct.’
