Warriors – Although it’s been days since the NBA trades concluded, there is still much news and controversy.
Days earlier, the Golden State Warriors filed a complaint against the Portland Trail Blazers.
As a result, the NBA will examine a potential misunderstanding of the Blazers regarding Gary Payton’s status before the Thursday trade between the two teams.
The news
Earlier, The Athletics sports journalist Shams Charania reported the news on Twitter.
“The NBA has received a complaint from the Golden State Warriors against the Portland Trail Blazers,” wrote Charania.
“The league has launched a review of potential misleading by the Blazers regarding Gary Payton II’s status.”
A day before, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Portland could deal with a potential punishment.
If the investigation finds anything wrong, they could face fines or a loss of draft picks.
“The NBA could punish Portland with a fine and loss of draft picks if an investigation were to discover ‘a failure to disclose relevant information’ on Payton’s abdominal injury that required offseason surgery and had him miss the first 35 games of the season,” wrote Wojnarowski.
“The Warriors believe they should’ve been told that Payton had been using Toradol to alleviate pain, source said, something that’s more typically done for players in the playoffs rather than the regular season.”
The Portland Trail Blazer investigation is the latest addition to a piling controversy during a trade between the two teams involving Payton.
It also puts Portland’s medical staff and negotiations with Golden State in question.
The trade
On Thursday’s NBA Trade Deadline, the Trail Blazers traded Gary Payton II for five second-round picks as part of a broader four-team trade.
The day after, Charania reported that Payton failed his physical exam as the medical staff found a core muscle injury that could sideline him for over three months.
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It could also put the Warriors’ four-team trade in danger.
In addition, Charania’s report claimed that Payton used Toradol to play games with the Trail Blazers, information the Warriors said wasn’t disclosed before the trade.
Previously, Gary Payton II had an off-season abdominal surgery that sidelined him for his first 35 games with the Blazers.
He finally made his debut on the court on January 2.
Clearing the air
Since the reports emerged, Chris Haynes of TNT Sports tweeted a statement from Aaron Goodwin, Payton’s agent, which claimed his player never took Toradol shots with Portland.
During a press conference on Friday, Joe Cronin, the Blazers’ general manager, was bombarded with the reports.
He defended how they handled Payton’s recovery.
“Player safety is super important to us, it’s a super important thing around the league. We were playing him, he was playing. He had been cleared,” said Cronin.
“We were confident that he was healthy when he was playing. We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or he was at risk, so you trust that we did the right thing, and you trust that our process was correct.”
“And these reports, I think. The clearance process was proper, so I’ll have to rely on that.”
Portland praise
On Wednesday, Josh Hart was traded from the Blazers to the Knicks in exchange for Cam Reddish.
He played his first game with the New York Knicks and had some kind words for his former team amid the controversy.
Although reporters didn’t ask him to, he praised the organization and the training staff.
“Portland as an organization was great, Joe Cronin has been great,” said Hart.
“That organization is nothing but a class act. In the front office, in the training room. And I just want to say that that organization is respectful, a class act and does everything by the book.”
Meanwhile, the Warriors have until 9:30 PM to accept or reject the Gary Payton II trade.
Their decision ultimately depends on what their physicians find.
In addition, the Warriors are discussing with the NBA on how to complete the four-team trade and still reserve the right to pursue recourse on how Payton’s medical status was shared before the deal.
Image source: CBS Sports
