Gary

Payton

Payton II’s reported return to Golden State will mark his seventh season with the team. The veteran guard played a large role in the Warriors’ championship run during the 2021-22 season and remains a key contributor off the bench. He averaged a career-high 7.5 points last season across 73 regular-season games, but is not expected to have much fantasy impact in 2026-27.

One day removed from playing 28 minutes in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers, Porziņǵis is on the injury report due to a sore left ankle. If he’s unable to play on Friday, the Warriors may turn to Al Horford, who logged 22 minutes on Wednesday. That would mean more minutes for Gary Payton II as well, even though he does not share a position with Porziņǵis or Horford.

Porziņģis pops up on the injury report with a knee injury, which is not a good sign this close to the playoffs. Draymond Green will likely occupy the center minutes if Porziņģis is unavailable, with Gary Payton II or Will Richard filling out the open starting spot.

Wednesday’s game is the first of two in as many nights for the Warriors, so Payton’s sitting is unsurprising. His absence should free up additional minutes for Pat Spencer and LJ Cryer.

Payton is managing his knee injury on the first night of this back-to-back, and there is a chance he misses one leg, even if it isn’t against San Antonio. His absence would open up extra minutes for Pat Spencer and LJ Cryer.

Melton will be unavailable for the first leg of this back-to-back. Gary Payton II has a good chance to replace him in the starting unit, with LJ Cryer and Pat Spencer taking on extra minutes off the bench.

Payton is good to go after sitting out Saturday’s loss to the Hawks. Multiple players experienced slight increases in playing time with GPII unavailable, including Will Richard and LJ Cryer. Look for them to take hits on Monday, but Richard should still get into the mid-to-high 20s in minutes.

Payton will not play after logging 25 minutes in Friday’s loss to the Pistons. LJ Cryer’s playing time may increase after he logged 16 minutes on Friday, but there is not much to gain from streaming him in this spot. Will Richard is the better streaming option, even if his playing time does not increase as much after playing 28 minutes on Friday.

Payton had 14 points in 25 minutes off the bench in Friday’s loss to the Pistons. The 33-year-old point guard has been playing more with Stephen Curry and Moses Moody (wrist) out. If Payton is ruled out Saturday, the Warriors would be short-handed in the backcourt.

Rostered in five percent of Yahoo! leagues, Payton has largely been an afterthought in fantasy basketball this season. However, that should change during these playoff weeks in Yahoo! default leagues. Since the All-Star break, Payton has provided seventh-round value in eight-cat formats, and he’s been a round better in nine-cat. With the Warriors ending Week 21 with a back-to-back, he’s worth a look in deep leagues, having played both ends of the team’s most recent back-to-back on Sunday and Monday.