Gary Payton II might be again on the court docket in a Warriors uniform as quickly as this weekend.
Payton has obtained the inexperienced gentle from the staff’s efficiency employees to take part in a full-team observe Saturday and might be cleared to play as quickly as Sunday, the Warriors introduced Thursday afternoon.
Payton hasn’t performed since Feb. 8 as he continued to take care of ache stemming from an offseason surgical procedure to restore a core muscle. The problem was flagged by the Warriors’ medical employees throughout a routine bodily within the aftermath of the Portland Path Blazers dealing him again to the Warriors as a part of a four-team commerce.
Payton hasn’t skilled any notable setbacks in his rehab course of whereas ramping up his on-court actions in latest weeks. He joined the staff on its latest five-city street journey and was noticed doing particular person power and conditioning work.
Coach Steve Kerr stated Wednesday that Payton has been “doing properly,” and the staff hoped he’d be again on the court docket “earlier than too lengthy.”
Payton will observe Saturday with out restrictions, the staff stated. Relying on how Payton’s physique responds to the exercise, he might be good to go for Sunday’s sport towards the Minnesota Timberwolves — a lot ahead of the preliminary two- to three-month timeline the Warriors feared when he failed his bodily in February.
After Sunday, the Warriors can have six video games remaining — three at dwelling and three on the street — as they discover themselves in a heated race to the end for playoff seeding. Golden State entered Thursday in sixth place within the Western Convention standings, with solely two video games separating the defending champs and the twelfth seed.