Warriors, Payton Thinking About Each Other

The last we heard from Gary Payton was late last month when he leaked word to the press that he'd be interested in grabbing hold of Boston's coattails. Now, another team seems to be in the mix. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, there's at least a chance Payton's hometown team might go after him after waiving DJ Mbenga this past weekend.

The Warriors are looking to improve their team's passing and all-around savvy, and one option is signing Oakland native Gary Payton out of retirement to play for his hometown team.

Though questions surround Payton, 39, who hasn't played since last season, sources say there has been enough mutual interest on both sides to merit recent conservations, and Mullin didn't exactly dismiss the possibility.

"I mean, again, there's a lot of different scenarios we're going to look at, probably more guards and bigs than swings," Mullin said when asked directly about Payton.

Even if the Glove fits in Golden State, a deal probably won't happen for the next week and a half: the team just signed D-League point guard CJ Watson (aka, "Quiet Storm") to a 10-day contract. That's not really a road block, though -- considering the 39-year-old point guard hasn't played all season, he might need at least that long to start getting back into game shape to the point that Golden State feels he could contribute immediately, and getting someone who can help reduce Baron Davis' workload now that Troy Hudson is done is a huge priority.

hat-tip: TrueHoop