Coach Michael Malone called the injury a “pretty significant hamstring strain.” Will Barton is the third key play Denver has lost in the last six games.
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A four-team trade between the Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers is in peril following concerns over Gary Payton II’s physical exam.
The Warriors ruled Payton as a failed physical and have until Saturday to through with the deal or rescind the trade.
Payton has been playing through a core muscle injury and the Blazers’ training staff had been pushing him to gut through it with Toreador shots. This information had not been relayed to the Warriors during the negotiations.
Payton had abdominal surgery during the summer.
“Player safety is super important to us,” said Blazers general manager Joe Cronin. “It’s a super important thing around the league. We were playing him … he had been cleared and we were confident that he was healthy when he was playing. We would not have brought him back if we thought he wasn’t healthy or if we thought he was at risk. You trust that we did the right thing, and you trust that our process was correct, and these reports, you know, I think if you knew our clearance process was proper, so I will have to rely on that.”
The Warriors sent out James Wiseman to the Pistons to acquire Payton, while Detroit traded Saddiq Bey to the Hawks for five second round picks, which were sent to Portland.
Payton has two years and $17.8 million remaining on his contract after this season.
Payton signed a three-year, $26.1 million deal with the Blazers.
LeBron James scored 32 points and Cleveland, looking to flip a switch after a shaky-and-streaky regular season, began the postseason by escaping with a 109-108 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. C.J. Miles could have won it for Indiana, but a player whom Cleveland’s players and coaches call a ”Cavs killer,” missed a 14-foot jumper just before the horn. ”He missed,” James said.
James is another milestone higher on his climb up the NBA’s all-time scoring list, becoming the third player to reach 35,000 career points.
