Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has come to a conclusion that Gary Payton II's time has finally come.
When the Warriors signed Gary Payton II in October, nobody had a deep understanding of what he can actually bring to the table, having played just 10 games for the Dubs last season. Atop that, Payton II wasn't like some of his contemporaries in the league who had been hyped ahead of the new season one way or another. Apparently, GP2 didn't need none of that.
The big break
Heading into the season, coach Kerr envisioned Payton II being injected in the backcourt rotation, having been aware that the team's setup last season didn't fit the 6-foot-3 guard's playing style. AS it turned out, Kerr was right.
Payton II never encountered any major issues fitting in and immediately made his mark on the redeemed Warriors squad.
“He’s really earned all these minutes,” Kerr raved of Payton II. “He’s earned his spot in the rotation and there’s no reason why he won’t continue to play quite a bit.”
“He's fearless and he's finally getting a real chance to play big minutes on a good team,” he reckoned. “He's the kind of guy who's gonna seize this opportunity and make the most of everything. He's fun to watch.”
The hard work paid off
Being a son of one of the greatest defenders to ever play the game, defense has always been linked to Payton II's name. And he did not disappoint. In fact, he is the third best defender in the current Dubs team, averaging 1.2 steals per outing, a career-high.
However, playing sticky and smart defense don't sum up Payton II's game. He spent the majority of the summer working on shooting and the Warriors are benefiting from it thus far. Take their recent 113-104 win over the Memphis Grizzlies as an example where Payton II dropped 22 points, knocking down four of his seven attempts from the 3-point area.
“We knew he would play a role,” Kerr said. “We really liked him a year ago and all summer and we knew we needed a defensive-minded guard to complement the rest of the roster. We expected him to help us win games, but a game like this, 4-for-7 from 3 and 22 points, I didn't expect that.”
His remarkable performance prompted Kerr to start him again against the Phoenix Suns on Christmas day. As expected, Payton II continued where he left off and logged 14 points in 30 minutes of action.
The only problem
As things stand, Payton II's co-existence with Steph Curry in the starting lineup has been a success. Looking at the Warriors' last two wins, the productivity of the pair in the backcourt has been impressive, combining for a whopping 115 points.
With that in mind, not to mention, Klay Thompson is also nearing his much-awaited return, the problem now is how to manage and balance such amount of talent in 48 minutes.
“Now, the only challenge is how do you balance so much talent and opportunity for everybody to get a little piece of the pie,” Curry said of the Warriors' stacked roster. “Because I mean right now we played 12 guys and you got Klay Thompson and James Wiseman back at home playing 5-on-5 and getting ready. So that is a great problem to have.”
“That is the challenge of what we have in terms of balancing how many guys you can throw out there every single night and creating a solid rotation that's going to help us win a championship, so that's the secret sauce, right now,” he continued.
Kerr, on the other hand, remains unfazed about everything being thrown at the Warriors this season. Instead, he chooses to focus on the daily grind while staying ready for whatever comes along as they make another run for the title.
“It's great to be back in the mix. What I've learned, though, in five trips to the Finals, is that so much is just up in the air—circumstances you can't control,” Kerr confessed earlier this month. “I know it's coach speak, but if we just come in every day and get our work in and enjoy the process, we're going to win a ton of games. We've already proven that. We keep trying to get better, put ourselves in the best position possible.
“We think we can win a championship,” he added.
All told, it is yet to be determined whether Payton II will be a staple in the starting lineup en route to the post season. What remains a sure thing us that Kerr is very confident about his game.
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