As the Golden State Warriors have sat stagnant this offseason, the unfortunate reality has been that two fan-favorite veterans, Kevon Looney and Gary Payton II, will not return to the team.
While Looney has signed with the New Orleans Pelicans, Payton remains a free agent, and, by courting other veteran guards, the Warriors have shown that they believe there to be better options on the market than Payton.
Although Payton was undeniably a winning player through his two stints with Golden State, the team must now cut costs wherever it can in order to build depth around their veteran core, and Payton is unfortunately a casualty of this reality.