Gary Payton II finalizes deal with Portland Trail Blazers; Sources claim 3-year deal is worth $28m

2:24 a.m. ET

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  Kendra AndrewsESPN

Gary Payton II He is finalizing a multi-year contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, and his agent, Aaron Goodwin, has confirmed to ESPN.

Payton, who has spent the past two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, is expected to join the Blazers on a three-year, $28 million deal, sources have told ESPN’s Mark J. Spears. Sources told Spears that the Warriors are offering Payton a mid-level taxpayer exemption.

Just as Payton is associated with the Bay Area – with his father, the Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton, who was born in Oakland – also has a connection to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest region. He grew up in Seattle while his father played for the Seattle Supersonics. He also dated Payton and played for Oregon for two years.

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After jumping all over the league since his rookie season in 2016-17, Payton finally found a spell at Golden State that allowed his game to thrive.

Considered a point guard out of college, Payton was used as a forward, and occasionally as a center, with the Warriors spending most of his time in Dunker’s place.

Payton’s main role was as a tight defender, earning a defensive rating of 100 – good for 40th in the league and sixth among players who played around the same minute.

He has won games against some of the best players in the league, like the best player in the league Nikola Jokicand the fact that he added more shots to his offensive arsenal (35.8% from 3 on 1.7 attempts per game) made him a more accurate player.

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