Gary Payton II not only rejuvenated his fading NBA career last season, but played a pivotal role in the Golden State Warriors' NBA Finals comeback. They were in an 0-1 hole against the Boston Celtics when Payton returned to the lineup after missing the previous 10 games with a fractured elbow, giving Golden State another much-needed stopper to make life hard on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Once the season was over five games later, his team champions for a fourth time in eight years, Steve Kerr singled out Payton's presence as a turning point in the series. Would the Warriors have won the title without him? Perhaps, but Payton's impact was palpable nonetheless, a ringing endorsement of his value to Golden State ahead of a hard-earned raise in free agency.
The biggest payday of his career didn't come from the Warriors, though. Payton joined the Portland Trail Blazers on the first day of free agency, getting a three-year, $26.1 million contract—including a player option—that Golden State decided was too costly to match.
Why? Draymond Green explained on the latest edition of his eponymous podcast.
“I didn't wanna see GP go. But with the way these taxes are set up now, I think, and I could be a little off on the numbers, GP signed for $9 million a year. In order for us to pay that $9 million a year in our tax situation, I think it's like $45 million a year or something like that. It's one of those things like, you're looking at it like, ‘Ah, man, that's $9 million.' But they're looking at it like, ‘That's a $45 million player,' and are they willing to go that high? I think that's something that has to be figured out in this next CBA.”
https://twitter.com/PlayoffDraymond/status/1550127984379449351
Paying Payton instead of Donte DiVincenzo—who signed a two-year deal with a player option worth just over half as much as Young Glove's annually—would've sent the Warriors' payroll into an even more onerous tax bracket, getting charged 6.25x for every dollar spent above $185 million.
Golden State's current taxable salary total sits just below that threshold, with a couple more minimum signings to come. Retaining Payton would've actually cost more than the $45 million Green estimates, both next season and going forward.
Considering Payton's age and DiVincenzo's snug fit in the Warriors' system, not to mention forthcoming extensions for Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole, it's at least understandable why even a willing spender like Joe Lacob decided keeping Payton would've been too expensive.
As for Green's hopes of changes in the next CBA? They're likely coming once the current terms expire after 2023-24, but not to help money-printing, big-market teams like Golden State keep incumbent free agents by easing tax burdens.
[h/t @PlayoffDraymond]
Follow Us
Subscribe