Warriors End Wiseman Experiment; Payton Returns To Bay Area

The Golden State Warriors made their move before the NBA trade deadline ended on Thursday, February 9, sending off former top pick James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team deal.

The Dubs were part of a three-team trade that involved the Atlanta Hawks as well.

The Pistons sent Saddiq Bey to the Hawks who in turn sent five future second-round picks to Golden State.

It was added by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Kevin Knox was also part of the deal and will initially be bound to Golden State.

However, it was only a temporary stopover for the No. 9 overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft and was eventually dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers.

In all, the move of the Warriors was seen more as a salary dump, saving them about $131 million for the current and next NBA season.

The Dubs did not take in other salaries in the three-team trade.

Hence, it is likely that the Warriors will instead resort to using those savings to sign a buyout candidate, converting the two-way deals of Anthony Lamb and Ty Jerome or even re-signing Donte DiVincenzo.

In an update, the Warriors will also reportedly bring back Gary Payton II in return for five future second-round picks.

Payton played for the Warriors during the 2021-22 season and was part of the championship squad.

He would move to the Portland Trail Blazers for the 2022-23 NBA wars but played in only 15 games, hardly blending in with the Blazers’ campaign.

For Wiseman, there is no question that he showed promise in his stint with the Dubs before the injury bug struck.

He will get the chance to hone his skills with the Pistons, a team composed of young promising starts that include Cade Cunningham, Kilian Hayes and Marvin Bagley III.

After playing 60 games with the Warriors, Wiseman held career averages of 9.9 points and five rebounds in 18.3 minutes of action.

These numbers are expected to go up if he is given lengthier playing time by Pistons coach Dwane Casey.