02-13-2023, 05:36 AM
Glad the Warriors stood up for themselves, the rest of the NBA, and pro sports writ large, by lodging a complaint with the NBA about the Blazer's very underhanded behavior.
The NBA could lop off a draft pick or two from the Payton deal, give the Warriors compensatory picks, and fine the Blazers. This still sucks for the Warriors because they could lose 10's of millions of dollars without Payton playing when they expected he would be as trade was formulated. Don't forget, the Warriors and Blazers were in talks about Payton for weeks and the Blazers didn't let the Warriors know of his injury and Torado shots. But the Blazers went out and got Matisse Thybulle to effectively replace Payton's defense, if he would be gone.
The Warriors could have gone after Thybulle and Jarred Vanderbilt if they knew Payton was damaged goods. As it is, their defense will remain unimproved for at least 2 months until Payton can play. It's still a big deal that Payton doesn't get to play for this long. The draft picks and any Blazers punishment isn't going to salvage the damage done to the Warriors playoff positioning, and could be very costly. At least they got the booby prize of ridding themselves of Wiseman's contract next season, but as noted, how good will the team even be without him?
The NBA could lop off a draft pick or two from the Payton deal, give the Warriors compensatory picks, and fine the Blazers. This still sucks for the Warriors because they could lose 10's of millions of dollars without Payton playing when they expected he would be as trade was formulated. Don't forget, the Warriors and Blazers were in talks about Payton for weeks and the Blazers didn't let the Warriors know of his injury and Torado shots. But the Blazers went out and got Matisse Thybulle to effectively replace Payton's defense, if he would be gone.
The Warriors could have gone after Thybulle and Jarred Vanderbilt if they knew Payton was damaged goods. As it is, their defense will remain unimproved for at least 2 months until Payton can play. It's still a big deal that Payton doesn't get to play for this long. The draft picks and any Blazers punishment isn't going to salvage the damage done to the Warriors playoff positioning, and could be very costly. At least they got the booby prize of ridding themselves of Wiseman's contract next season, but as noted, how good will the team even be without him?