The Golden State Warriors will approve the four-team trade they agreed to at the deadline, but not before filing a complaint to the NBA about Gary Payton II's injury not being disclosed.
Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning team in 2022, left the franchise to sign a free agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.
He had been battling a number of injuries that kept him out of action until the new year, but he has managed 15 appearances since January 2.
Payton's return to action had the Warriors believing his injury problems were behind him, and they were given no indication during negotiations that he was still struggling.
However, their medical examination of him revealed a core muscle injury that the Warriors' medical staff believe will take months to heal.
It meant the Warriors had the ability to void the deal – which was a complicated four-team trade that also sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons, while the Atlanta Hawks received Saddiq Bey – but with the deadline already passed, Golden State would not be able to make any further moves.
That is a crucial point because while the acquisition of Payton was important, the Warriors were just as interested in parting ways with Wiseman.
The Athletic reported that because of Golden State's status as a luxury tax repeater, the franchise were going to have to pay over $50million for Wiseman's $9m salary this season, and over $80m for his $12m salary in 2023-24.
With how little the former number two draft pick has proven, the Warriors decided his time with the team had run out, and they would prefer the playoff-proven Payton on a cheaper contract.
While they are still going through with the trade, the Warriors filed a complaint to the league about the Trail Blazers providing misleading information about Payton's injury status, prompting the league to launch a review.
It is also being reported that Payton was being pushed by Portland's training staff to play through his injury with the help of pain relief medication.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown says he is "day to day" in his recovery from a facial fracture and has not ruled himself out of next weekend's All-Star Game.
Brown suffered the injury when he collided with the elbow of team-mate Jayson Tatum during last Wednesday's 106-99 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The two-time All-Star was ruled out indefinitely by the Celtics, but Brown offered an update on his status prior to Sunday's 119-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
"I'm taking it day to day right now," Brown said. "I'm just letting the swelling go down, letting the pain subside, and then I'll kind of go from there. I can't make any determinations long-term because I'm just taking it day to day."
Brown, who was voted into the upcoming All-Star Game as a reserve by the league's coaches, confirmed he had avoided surgery and was on the mend.
"Feeling a lot better for sure," Brown said. "Still having a little bit of pain but feeling better from the first couple days.
"Had to get a couple scans, see a bunch of specialists and different doctors to get all the info. But they came to the determination I don't have to have surgery, so that's the good thing.
"I'm just happy that I don't have to go through that process because I probably would have missed a lot more games. I don't think it'll be too long. I figure I'll be fine."
Brown is enjoying an outstanding season, with career-high averages for points (26.5), rebounds (7.0) and field goal percentage (48.7 per cent).
The Golden State Warriors will approve the four-team trade they agreed to at the deadline, but not before filing a complaint to the NBA about Gary Payton II's injury not being disclosed.
Payton, who was a member of the Warriors' championship-winning team in 2022, left the franchise to sign a free agent deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason.
He had been battling a number of injuries that kept him out of action until the new year began, but he has since managed 15 appearances since January 2.
Payton's return to action had the Warriors believing his injury problems were behind him, and they were given no indication during negotiations that he was still struggling.
However, their medical examination of him revealed a core muscle injury that the Warriors' medical staff believe will take months to heal.
It meant the Warriors had the ability to void the deal – which was a complicated four-team trade that also sent James Wiseman to the Detroit Pistons, while the Atlanta Hawks received Saddiq Bey – but with the deadline already passed, Golden State would not be able to make any further moves.
That is a crucial point because while the acquisition of Payton was important, the Warriors were just as interested in parting ways with Wiseman.
The Athletic reported that because of Golden State's status as a luxury tax repeater, the franchise were going to have to pay over $50million for Wiseman's $9m salary this season, and over $80m for his $12m salary in 2023-24.
With how little the former number two draft pick has proven, the Warriors decided his time with the team had run out, and they would prefer the playoff-proven Payton on a cheaper contract.
While they are still going through with the trade, the Warriors filed a complaint to the league about the Trail Blazers providing misleading information about Payton's injury status, prompting the league to launch a review.
It is also being reported that Payton was being pushed by Portland's training staff to play through his injury with the help of pain relief medication.
The Boston Celtics received terrific performances from Derrick White and Robert Williams III to defeat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 119-109 on Sunday.
With Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown out of action due to a broken bone in his face, and Jayson Tatum struggling on his way to a three-of-16 shooting performance, it was up to the role players to step up in what was a playoff-quality matchup.
After his best game of the season on Friday – scoring a season-high 33 points with 10 assists – White followed it up with another terrific showing. He led the Celtics with 23 points on eight-of-20 shooting and a game-high 10 assists.
Meanwhile, Williams – who set a season-high with 16 rebounds on Friday – matched that figure again, including five on the offensive end, while the Grizzlies only grabbed three offensive rebounds as a team.
Tatum ended up salvaging a respectable stat line of 20 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks, but he was nowhere to be found in a close fourth quarter.
Instead, it was Al Horford providing the game-winning scoring burst, with 11 of his 16 points coming in the final five minutes to repel any late Grizzlies charge.
Ja Morant led the visitors with 25 points (nine-of-18 shooting), seven assists and six rebounds.
With the win, the Celtics improved their league-leading record to 41-16, while the Grizzlies sit second in the Western Conference at 34-22.
VanVleet and Siakam lead Raptors to victory
The combination of Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam provided the scoring punch in the Toronto Raptors' 119-118 home win against the Detroit Pistons, but a new addition held things together defensively.
VanVleet led all scorers with 35 points (12-of-26 shooting) and eight assists, while Siakam put together a strong performance with 28 points (10-of-19 shooting), six assists and two blocks.
On the defensive end, it was trade acquisition Jakob Poeltl showing exactly why the Raptors traded a first-round pick for him at the deadline, leading the game in both blocks (three) and steals (two) before fouling out in 25 minutes. Toronto were plus 11 with him on the court, and minus 10 while he was on the bench.
The New Orleans Pelicans were hopeful they would be getting star Zion Williamson back shortly after next week’s All-Star break, but that will no longer be the case.
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Sunday that Williamson suffered a setback during his rehab for a hamstring injury and will miss several weeks after the All-Star Game.
Williamson, who missed the entire 2021-22 season with a broken foot, has been sidelined since injuring the hamstring in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2.
The 22-year-old had been participating in three-on-three work as part of his rehab, and his latest setback occurred while on the court, according to Griffin.
He will be re-evaluated after next Sunday’s All-Star Game.
The former number one overall draft pick was voted an All-Star starter after averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 29 games.
The Pelicans were 23-14 and had the Western Conference’s third-best record at the time of Williamson’s injury, but have gone just 6-14 since to drop into seventh place in the West.
Terrence Ross plans to sign with the Phoenix Suns after finalising his contract buyout with the Orlando Magic, according to reports.
Ross will be able to sign with a new team upon clearing waivers and becoming a free agent in the coming days, and will be eligible for any suitors' playoff roster if he agrees the buyout by March 1.
The Dallas Mavericks were reported as frontrunners to acquire Ross on Saturday, but the championship-chasing Suns are now in pole position, according to an ESPN report.
The Suns acquired Kevin Durant, as well as T.J. Warren, in a huge trade with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week, sending Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder the other way alongside four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.
Ross' addition would provide cover for Durant in Phoenix after the Suns lost Johnson and Bridges to the Nets.
The 32-year-old is in the final season of his four-year, $54 million contract in Orlando, with his 22.5 minutes and eight points per game his fewest in a single campaign since his rookie year in 2012-13.
The Suns are fifth in the Western Conference following Friday's 117-104 win at the Indiana Pacers, in which Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton had 21 and 22 points respectively.
Luka Doncic had fun linking up with Kyrie Irving for the first time in spite of the Dallas Mavericks going down 133-128 in overtime at the Sacramento Kings.
In his third game since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving scored 28 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, but it was not enough to beat the Kings at Golden 1 Center again, as the Mavs did on Friday.
Doncic did not play in that game, but he returned on Saturday for the second of a double-header against Sacramento, and linked up well with Irving as he finished with 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
"Amazing, only our first game together, but I think it's so fun to play with this guy," the Slovenian said about lining up with Irving. "He's an amazing basketball player and I think it's going to be really fun and today, first game, it was really fun, too."
Mavs coach Jason Kidd was equally enthused by his new star partnership despite the loss, saying: "I thought it was good. It was just natural. Nothing forced.
"It's going to make us that much better. They did an incredible job."
De'Aaron Fox managed to outshine Doncic and Irving in Sacramento, scoring 36 points for the hosts, 26 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime, while Domantas Sabonis and Terence Davis also put up 22 points each, with the former recording 14 rebounds for a league-leading 44th double-double of the season.
Kings coach Mike Brown was understandably pleased with his team's work, saying: "Heck of a job by our guys. Defensively, we did a pretty good job in both second halves.
"We had a lot of great individual performances."
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