Out Of The NBA In October, Gary Payton II Is Now A Game-Changer

Gary Payton II slipped through several team's hands, several times.

Undrafted out of Oregon State back in 2016, it has been a constant scrap for the man nicknamed "The Mitten" to get to the very fringes of the NBA ever since. Even with the innate name recognition he inherited from his father, "The Glove", Payton II has been on the outside looking in from day one. Across his first five professional seasons, Payton II spent more time in the G-League than the NBA, and never earned above a minimum salary, winning only contracts that were either unguaranteed or for a mere 10 days in duration.

Nevertheless, scrap he did, and going into the 2021-22 season, Payton II had managed to accrue five piecemeal years of NBA service time. They were only partial years, but every day counts; to earn a year of service time (and thus larger minimum salary amounts, plus increased pension benefits), a player needs to spend only one day on a regular season roster, including time spent on waivers. And so even though Payton II managed only 71 games and 808 minutes across those five years, none of which came in the postseason, he was technically a five-year veteran without ever needing to crack a rotation of note.

He even slipped through the Golden State Warriors' grasp at one point. Having played 40 spot minutes of 10 games down the stretch of their 2020/21 regular season, the Warriors (who had signed him on the last day of the season to a contract with an unguaranteed 2021/22 year attached) said all the right things about Payton II, but then left him out of the playoff rotation and cut him just before opening night to save money.

It was the same old story for The Mitten. Until it wasn't.

The day after Payton II cleared waivers, the Warriors brought him back on a one-year minimum salary contract, and while that new deal paid him personally what he was slated to earn on the contract that was waived, it made a difference from the Warriors' point of view. Teams signing players with more than two years of experience who sign one-year (or remainder of the season) minimum salary contracts are charged only the amount of a two-year veteran, with the league paying the rest.

Crucially, from the Warriors' point of view, they were also only billed the latter amount towards their luxury tax number. Cutting Payton II from that contract signed on the last day of the 2020/21 season and re-signing him on the first day of 2021/22 therefore saved them some money on their already historically-large tax bill, a $240,172 saving on salary and $1,501,075 more in luxury tax.

Nonetheless, even with this reimbursement, the combined total of the amount they did pay and the $6.25-to-$1 repeater luxury tax rate they paid on it meant that the Warriors still essentially paid slightly more than $12 million for Payton II's services last season. The man no one else saw fit to give above the minimum salary at any point in the previous five and a half years - nor spend a mere $1,000 making a waiver claim on - was suddenly considered important enough to spend seven figures on. And he delivered.

Last season was Payton II's breakout campaign. Playing as many regular season games as he had done in his career to date, and starting 16 times, he averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.9 blocks in only 17.6 minutes a contest, while shooting a colossal 61.6% from the field. He further shot a DeAndre Jordan-esque 75.4% from inside the arc, and while his 43-120 35.8% three-point shooting did not wow, it did suffice, and represent a career-best mark from a player who has long had that aspect of the game held against him.

Because of his below-average outside shooting, it has always been difficult to know what type of player Payton is. He could not much be used off the ball given his poor spacing at a key spacing position, and nor could he be a primary creator at the NBA level. In Golden State, though, he found a role where he did not have to be much of either.

When Stephen Curry is on the court, a primary halfcourt playmaker is not required, for he is it. When Stephen Curry is on the court, an off-screens movement shooter is not required, for he is that as well. When Klay Thompson is in alongside Curry, this is doubly true. Payton, then, did not have to do the things he has struggled with at the NBA level, and thus could do what he does best; run, cut, finish athletically, and defend like few others.

Payton II always was an excellent help defender. With a high level of defensive IQ and an even higher level of hustle, he gambles, helps, and blows up pick-and-rolls and hand-offs with aplomb. Where he added to his game last year was better man-to-man defense on the perimeter, using his great hands to bother guards of all kinds, while also deploying the aforementioned offensive usage. From the fringes, he became a star role player on the best team in the league.

Of course, even the Warriors have their spending limits. After Payton hit free agency once again, they offered him the taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign with them this offseason, knowing full well that the $6,479,000 in direct salary offered by that exception would actually entail a total commitment closer to $35 million once luxury tax at repeater rates was included. Payton nevertheless declined it, and was able to get a three year, $26,145,000 contract starting at $8.3 million from the Portland Trail Blazers, an amount that Golden State could have offered with their Early Bird rights, but chose not to. He had become too expensive even for the once-pocketless Warriors.

Nevertheless, where once he was available for the minimum, Payton is now pulling in the big bucks. Where once a $1,000 waiver claim was deemed unnecessary, $26.145 million is now the going rate. Where once he did not fit the NBA, he is now a coveted piece alongside premium scoring guards. The Trail Blazers themselves were among the many teams to pass on Payton before, waiving him during 2018's preseason - if they now use him alongside Damian Lillard in a style akin to how Golden State used him alongside Curry, they might find that while The Mitten may never again be the bargain he once was, he may still be one.