Trail Blazers react to failed physical by Gary Payton II / News - Basketnews.com

Portland is confident that Gary Payton II was healthy before the 4-team trade happened. Trail Blazers also say that they would never push a guy to play.

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The Athletic's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater report that Golden State Warriors trade deadline acquisition Gary Payton II could miss two-to-three months after a core muscle issue showed up in his physical on Friday, putting the four-team deal between the GSW, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers in jeopardy.

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The Warriors ruled him as a failed physical on Friday, and have until Saturday to go through with the deal as a technical pass of the physical or rescind the entire trade, via the report.

Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin said Friday the team was confident Payton II was healthy before agreeing to trade him to Golden State in a four-team deal.

Cronin said he was aware of the report but hadn't been contacted by the Warriors, Hawks, or Pistons, who were also in the deal.

"I haven't heard from any teams about this. So for now I have to defer," Cronin said.

Payton's time in Portland was brief. He signed a $28 million, three-year contract last summer after playing on Golden State's NBA championship team. But he missed the first 35 games of the season in Portland because of a core injury that required surgery.

The Athletic's report also cites unnamed sources that said he had been playing through pain in Portland.

"He had been cleared and we were confident that he was healthy when he was playing," Cronin added. "We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn't healthy or if he was at risk."

Portland head coach Chauncey Billups agreed.

"We would never push a guy to play. Whether it's medical or whether a guy just doesn't feel like he can play that night — say he's got a headache or say he's just got a lot of stress at home, or say he has a death in the family," Billups said. "I would never push somebody to play because I would always be scared of me doing that and then something actually happening."

As part of the trade, Golden State received unprotected 2026 and 2028 second-round draft picks from Portland while giving up Memphis' 2026 second-round pick and its own 2028 second-round selection to the Blazers.

The Warriors sent center James Wiseman to Detroit in the four-team trade. The Pistons traded forward Saddiq Bey to the Hawks and the Blazers acquired forward Kevin Knox II from Detroit along with three conditional second-round picks from the Hawks.

In another move before the deadline, the Blazers also dealt forward Josh Hart to the New York Knicks in exchange for forward Cam Reddish, guard Ryan Arcidiacono, and a 2023 first-round pick.

The Blazers also acquired forward Matisse Thybulle from the Philadelphia 76ers for a 2029 second-round pick and sent a 2027 second-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets.

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