Blazers guard Gary Payton II return target revealed

- World Soccer Today -

The Portland Trail Blazers have yet to piece together all the players the team acquired in the offseason.

Gary Payton Jr. was out for the entire season recovering from core muscle surgery in the offseason. But The Athletic's Shams Charania said Payton will return soon.

Trail Blazers  Guard Gary Payton II is aiming to make his season debut in the next week or two, sources said. Payton, who signed a three-year, $28 million deal to join the Trail Blazers in July, has been sidelined due to offseason surgery on a core muscle injury. Payton is a key rotation player for the team The Warriors' 2022 championship team should assume a similar all-around role for the 14-12 Trail Blazers.

Payton, the 29-year-old son of NBA Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton, has spent six seasons in the NBA. In addition to the Warriors, he also played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 17.6 games Appeared in more than 71 games with the Warriors last season, including 16 starts. He's shooting 61.6 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from three-point range on 4.8 attempts per game. He improved those percentages to 65.9 and 53.3 in 12 playoff games heading to Golden State's 2022 world championship. championship. The title capped Payton's first career playoff game.

The Blazers have exactly one week and two games today against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets. Maybe those two dates are to be circled when trying to predict Payton's return.