Gary Payton II may have seen his minutes dwindle at times since his significant impact in the 2022 championship run, yet the veteran guard has always remained a favorite of Steve Kerr at the Golden State Warriors.
That might be until now as Kerr and the Warriors realize Payton is no longer the defensive menace he once was, something that many will believe is long overdue after more limited impact even since his return to the franchise at the 2023 mid-season deadline.
Warriors are coming to a brutal Gary Payton II realization
The need to move past Payton in favor of younger players might be a brutal one, but it's also a necessary one at this point of his career. Golden State have seemingly done that, having left the 32-year-old out of the rotation in the second-half of each of the past two games.
After playing at least seven minutes in each of the first four games, Payton saw just over five first-half minutes against the L.A. Clippers at Chase Center on Tuesday night. He wasn't to be seen again thereafter, and probably rightly so given the Warriors were astonishingly outscored by 17 during his little time on the floor.
Fast-forward to Thursday's meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks and Payton saw just over three minutes in the first-half -- the least of any of the 12 players Kerr utilized during the shock 120-110 defeat at Fiserv Forum.
Even when Golden State were perilous to stop former guard Ryan Rollins who went for a career-high 32 points and eight assists, Kerr decided against going back to Payton at all in the second-half despite his previous stature as the team's best perimeter defender.
If the Warriors aren't going to use Payton in a situation where they needed his perimeter defense, then it's unlikely he sees a whole lot of rotation opportunity going forward. With De'Anthony Melton nearing a return from injury and the front office likely to sign Seth Curry at some point in the next month, the already very limited playing time is probably going to turn into some complete DNPs.
This won't be a total shock, or at least it shouldn't be given Payton was one of the last players signed to the roster once Jonathan Kuminga's free agency was resolved. The Will Richard emergence has been a surprise and played a role in Payton's downfall, with the rookie guard playing nearly 12 minutes on Thursday and now averaging more than five minutes more than his veteran teammate.
If the Warriors have realized that Payton isn't and shouldn't be a consistent rotation member, he'll want to make the most of any opportunity to change their mind particularly prior to Melton's return.