The Golden State Warriors made multiple trades in the lead up to and during the second-round of Thursday's NBA draft, with the franchise ultimately ending up with the 52nd and 56th overall picks where they took Alex Toohey and Will Richard.
The decision to trade up to the 56th pick and take Richard came as a particular surprise given most mocks had the 22-year-old going undrafted, but his arrival could mean the end for a beloved veteran in Gary Payton II.
Will Richard could be the Warriors answer to replacing Gary Payton II
In giving Golden State a B- grade, Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports notes that "Richard was a key player in Florida’s run to the national championship behind his energetic defense."
Does energetic defense sound familiar? It's certainly been Payton's calling card for the Warriors where he's carved out an excellent career and was a huge part of the 2022 championship. Yet at 32-years-old and with injury issues over the last three years, Payton's future is incredibly uncertain as an unrestricted free agent.
Richard could be the answer to Golden State finding a cheaper, younger version of Payton, and one that the franchise may potentially have on a two-way contract depending on what happens elsewhere in free agency.
GP2 replacement https://t.co/hXI4EXiqPT
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) June 27, 2025
Payton's time with the Warriors was probably in a little bit of jeopardy anyway, with his limitations as a shooter making him less valuable to a team that needs to add some offensive juice after ranking 17th on that end of the floor last season.
After appearing in just 66 games over the previous two years, Payton did get his body right and appeared in 62 games for Golden State where he averaged 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 15 minutes per game.
The veteran guard did start hitting a higher percentage of his threes after the All-Star break, but still ended at just 32.6% as opposing defenses continue to pay him no respect from beyond the arc. Richard shouldn't have that issue if he can develop into a rotation player, having drilled a solid 35.9% on 5.6 attempts per game with the Gators during his senior year.
Richard joins a team that already possess Brandin Podziemski, Buddy Hield and Moses Moody as players at the 2/3 position, making it more and more likely that there will be no room for Payton in Steve Kerr's rotation going forward.
Payton is coming off a three-year, $27 million contract he signed after the 2022 championship, with a chance he'll have to take a veteran minimum contract this offseason whether that's with the Warriors or elsewhere.