Gary Payton II embraces Warriors being counted out during 2026-27 NBA season

Gary Payton II embraces Warriors being counted out during 2026-27 NBA season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Expectations for the Warriors entering the 2026-27 NBA season are as low as they’ve been in years. That’s the way Gary Payton II likes it, too. 

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“It’s funny,” Payton said Sunday to NBC Sports Bay Area on the ninth floor of Chase Center. “It kind of gives, in a sense, a ’22 feeling. We’re not expected to do anything, but we still got a pretty good veteran core, and we got some talented young guys. 

“The goal this year, the motto for me, is stay healthy and have fun.” 

Nobody saw a championship parade coming down Market Street going into the 2021-22 NBA season. They saw a Warriors team that didn’t have Kevin Durant anymore, still was without Klay Thompson recovering from an Achilles injury, questionable youth and a group of veteran castoffs. Payton sees the similarities five years later. 

The Warriors’ last championship team was coming off a 39-win season that fell short of the playoffs. This season’s group is coming off a year of 37 wins and no date with the playoffs. 

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Steph Curry’s co-star, Jimmy Butler, is rehabbing from injury like Thompson was. But this team also has to deal with another major loss to injury in Moses Moody’s rehab. 

When it comes to youth, the Warriors can hope Brandin Podziemski in Year 4 can take the kind of offensive leap Jordan Poole did in Year 3. Yaxel Lendeborg should be much more ready to contribute as a rookie than Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman or Moody ever were. 

It actually might be Brandon Williams who reminds fans of Poole the most with the way he’s able to beat a defender off the dribble and get to the basket. 

Payton, who will be 34 in December, just played 73 games last season, which was a new career high and his most since playing 71 in the Warriors’ championship season – the year he found the perfect team to keep his career alive as a fan favorite. Other role players surrounding Payton five seasons ago included Damion Lee, Kevon Looney, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Nemanja Bjelica and Otto Porter…

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Publish date : 2026-09-21 13:45:00

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