Gary Payton II Could Return From Adductor Injury on Sunday, Warriors Say

The guard has yet to make his Golden State debut since being traded last month.

Warriors guard Gary Payton II could possibly make his team debut this weekend as long as his recovery from his right adductor injury continues to progress. 

Payton was evaluated by the team on Wednesday and is making “good progress,” the team announced on Thursday. He will be evaluated again on Saturday after practice and the team will decide if he is ready to play ahead of Sunday’s game vs. the Timberwolves.

If the guard plays on Sunday, it would be his official 2022–23 debut for the Warriors since he was traded to the team in mid-February. He failed his physical after being traded due to a core muscle issue.

At first, it was expected that Payton could miss two to three months of playing time with the injury. But, if he is cleared for Sunday’s game, he would’ve only missed about a month of possible playing time with Golden State.

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Payton was involved in a four-team trade last month. As part of the trade, the Warriors dealt former No. 2 pick James Wiseman to the Pistons and sent Saddiq Bey, who they acquired from Detroit, to Atlanta for five second-round picks. The Warriors then used those picks to trade for Payton from the Trail Blazers.