The Pistons are in jeopardy of losing James Wiseman less than 24 hours after the trade to acquire him was made official.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, a failed physical exam of Gary Payton II has placed the four-team trade between the Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers in serious jeopardy.
The Pistons traded Saddiq Bey and Kevin Knox II to the Warriors shortly before Thursday’s trade deadline in exchange for Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. The Warriors then put together separate deals to trade Bey to the Hawks and Knox to the Trail Blazers.
Payton, who was traded to the Blazers from the Warriors last offseason, could miss two to three months due to an ongoing core muscle injury, Charania reports, which caused him to fail his physical. He had abdominal surgery during the offseason and missed the first 35 games of the season until he made his Blazers debut on Jan. 2 against the Pistons.
The Warriors have until Saturday to accept the deal despite Payton’s injury or the entire deal could be off.
If the trade doesn’t go through, it’ll mark the second consecutive season that a Pistons trade has been rescinded due to a failed physical. Last season, the Pistons traded Rodney McGruder to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Bol Bol, but Detroit voided the deal because “medical clearance was not received for all players involved,” according to the team.
mcurtis@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @MikeACurtis2