Trade Deadline: Warriors Trade James Wiseman, Acquire Gary Payton II

The Golden State Warriors took a creative route with their trade deadline approach, sending James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team deal that lands Gary Payton II in Golden State. Payton is coming from the Portland Trail Blazers in this deal, who will receive Kevin Knox from Golden State along with five second-round picks.

This is a great move for the Warriors, who did not have a place for Wiseman in their rotation, and saved a ton of money by offloading his contract. The team now gets back a player who helped them win a championship last season in return for a player who never panned out.

There is of course the element of Wiseman being a second overall back who did not net that kind of value in the trade market, but the Warriors had to eventually abandon that line of thinking. The team did well to net a return that will help their championship odds this season, which is what they needed to do. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green have all remained championship-level players, which forces the Warriors to make win-now moves.

By only trading Wiseman, the Warriors also maintained the rest of their young core at this year's deadline. Many felt they would be unable to do that while upgrading their roster, but they pulled it off.

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