Grading Warriors' Decision to Re-Sign Gary Payton II

Gary Payton II will return to the Golden State Warriors for his seventh season.

The 33-year-old guard signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract on Saturday, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

It is a veteran minimum contract for Payton. Due to it being just a one-year deal, Payton's cap hit will be just $2.4 million.

The Warriors now have 13 players under standard contracts. Among them, 12 ended last season with Warriors standard contracts. The only new player is rookie Yaxel Lendeborg.

It's an uninspiring strategy for a team that went 37-45 last year, but this grade is more about Payton vs. the options available and less about Golden State's long-term vision.

Grading the Move

In this case, the length and cost of the contract have very little impact on the grade. Sure, Payton is a bargain on a veterean minimum deal, but it's likely that he didn't have a market because of how odd-fitting his game is on most teams.

Most teams don't want 6'2" guards who struggle to shoot threes and don't have the ball-handling and playmaking skills to play point guard.

Despite those weaknesses, Payton has had an impactful role with the Warriors for years.

During the 2021-22 title season, Payton was best-known for his great on-ball defense against opposing teams' best guards. And the on-off stats reflected that, as Payton was in the 68th percentile in defensive rating swing that season, per Cleaning the Glass.

But in each of the last four years, Payton has had a better offensive rating swing than defensive rating swing, and it usually hasn't been close. (Note: A negative number in the Cleaning the Glass D-rating swing column below is better than a positive number)

Payton by Season	O-Rating Swing	D-Rating Swing	Net-Rating Swing
2021-22	+1.1	-2.2	+3.4
2022-23 w/ GSW	+7.2	+1.6	+5.6
2023-24	+3.6	-2.4	+6.0
2024-25	+3.3	+3.5	-0.3
2025-26	+0.4	+4.6	-4.1

He's been having a negative impact on the defensive end over the last two seasons. His defensive net-rating swing was in the 22nd percentile in 2024-25 and the 18th percentile in 2025-26.

Based on those stats, one might think the Warriors made a mistake bringing him back.

But the eye test suggests he's still a disruptive defender, and some stats support that as well. Over four of the last five seasons, the Warriors have forced more turnovers with Payton on the court.

His ability to get a steal to start a fast break has changed the momentum of countless games.

There's no doubt that Payton's defense has declined since his great 2021-22 season, but he's certainly not a liability on that end.

As I wrote here, Payton's 2025-26 EPM was considerably better than that of any of the five free agents the Warriors were reportedly targeting.

Payton shot 58.3 percent last season, scoring most of his points in the paint despite his size.

Even with Payton's contributions, the Warriors were one of the worst paint-scoring teams in the NBA last year.

His offensive style will continue to fit until the Warriors remake their roster to emphasize having more paint scorers.

My last point is that the Warriors need to focus on the availability of all of their depth players considering Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are out indefinitely with knee injuries.

Payton played in 73 games last season.

He has had his share of injuries, but the fact that he ranked second in games played for Golden State last season supports the front office's decision to keep him.

Perhaps the Warriors should have moved away from Payton to focus on a depth guard who provides a more traditional skill set.

But as long as Payton puts up numbers similar to last season, he'll be worth a roster spot.

Grade: B

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