Just speculation on my part, ``I talk to Gary every day, and the situation has nothing to do with Boston,'' Goodwin said. ``The issue is one, that this all occured while he was on vacation and two, that this (trade) occured after he was assured by the Lakers that they wanted him to stay. ``Those are the bigger issues. The Lakers didn't keep their word to him. But right now he hasn't even digested the fact that he's been traded. He respects the Boston organization, and he sees this as a good opportunity. ``But the Celtics and Lakers were both aware that he wasn't going to be back in time to take the physical. I wanted to give him the opportunity to come back and discuss this with his family. The stunner here isn't playing for Boston. The stunner is what the Lakers did.'' Goodwin said that if the Lakers hadn't told Payton they wanted him back for next year, the 36-year-old veteran would not have exercised the $5.4 million option on his contract. One aspect is clear, however. Payton is furious with the Lakers. ``They used me so they could get other players,'' he said. ``Boston is going to lose out on this. They ain't going to get nothing.'' ------------------------------------------------------ It was said by an insider that Rudy absolutely hated GP. Something that happened when he coached him in the Olympics. Do you think Rudy went back on his word for Payton out of spite?
"waaaah, Waaaah, Waaah. I'm an old guard who is past his rpime et still thinks everyone should worship me. Waaah Waaah Waaaah!" Seriously, I hope he retires just to quick hearing about this "hall-of-fame" loser and his ego problem.
Payton excercised the option because after his performance last season, he knew that nobody else would pay him 5.4M for his service. The stunner for him was that he had to move to a bad team and it's on the East Coast.
will gary leave 5 mil on the table? i don't think so. he's just moaning and groaning like he always does.
he exercised it as fast as humanly possible when he realized it was about twice as much as he could get as an FA after last season.
come on I know GP had a bad year but I think teams would have been willing to give him that same money next year and still pick up another 2-3 year contract. He wont command big money but teams would still want him especially with the shortage of good PG's. it seems right after the C position PG is the next hardest position to fill. J
Here is what I don't get... Payton has no disrespect for Boston, and he is mad at the Lakers. So he is punishing the Lakers by making them keep him? I mean if he is so furious with the Lakers, shouldn't he get as far away from them as possible? And by the way, GP is toast. Three teams in a row saw him for a year or longer and decided to let him go. Just like when Toronto took Hakeem from us. They just didn't know how far he had declined. Same for GP. Teams keep hoping he is still the old GP, but the Sconics, the Bucks and now the Lakers have traded him for whatever they could get.
Here are Gary Patton's stats for the past five seasons before joining the lakers. POINTS/ASSISTS/REBOUNDS/STEALS/FG% 24.2/8.7/4.9/1.9/.445 //// //// //// ////
Here are Gary Payton's stats for the past five seasons. POINTS/ASSISTS/REBOUNDS/STEALS/FG% 24.2/8.7/4.9/1.9/.445 23.1/8.1/4.6/1.6/.456 22.1/9.0/4.6/1.6/.457 20.4/8.3/4.2/1.6/.454 Then he joined the Lakers and did this: 14.6/5.5/4.2/1.17/.471 I think the Lakers offense was obviously the reason for GP's sudden "decline" more than ahything else. Though his scoring was slowly going down before he joined LA, his assists, steals, and FG% were all pretty decent. Plus, Milwaukee didn't really want GP. They were just trading for his expiring contract because they were entering into a retooling phase for their team. Also, as far as Seattle's seeing his supposed decline goes, they were just in the same boat as the Bucks. GP didn't fit their future plans just like Ray allen didn't fit Milwaukee's. You wouldn't also contend that Allen's game has gone south because his tem traded him away, would you? If GP ends up playing for Boston, I predict he'll have a pretty good "rebound" year.
The past ten seasons before joining the Lakers Payton also led his teams in Field Goal Attempts, often times by wide margins.
Yeah, and he also shot decent percentages. Now, if he goes to Boston, where he'd be a possible 2nd option, instead of 4th as he was on the Lakers, I can see his scoring average going up significantly. People will just talk about how the "old" GP is back and not about things such as him getting more shots and PT. For some reason, lots of guys just don't take practical explanations such as these into account. It's almost as if they'd rather beleive a player lost most of his heart and skills one season, and magically regained them the next.
the "point" is he is a "point" guard and should not be leading his team in shots attempted. he hasn't proven himself as a complimentary role player, which is what he would be here.
By here, do you mean Houston? Because I never said I wanted him to come to the Rockets. I don't think he fits well with us. You're right, GP does need a lot of shots to truly be effective. In Boston, I can see him getting those shots and having a good influence on the team, though.
