Gary Payon signs 1 year deal - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MavsX · 09-07-2006, 10:26 AM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...=ESPNHeadlines

MIAMI -- Gary Payton finally got one championship but still wants to chase another.

The veteran guard signed a one-year deal Wednesday to return to the Miami Heat, meaning the defending NBA champions have every player from last season's regular postseason rotation under contract for the coming year.

Payton -- a 38-year-old, nine-time All-Star who played 16 seasons before winning his first title in June -- was expected to sign a deal worth about $1.2 million, or slightly more than the veterans' minimum salary.

Payton averaged 7.7 points in the regular season and then 5.8 per game in Miami's playoff run. He made 25 regular-season starts and was often the Heat's point guard of choice in the fourth quarter. Payton could be especially valuable early this season, with Jason Williams still recovering from offseason knee surgery.

The move was far from unexpected; Payton said often at the end of last season that he planned to return.

He averaged only 2.7 points against Dallas in the NBA Finals but was among Miami's biggest heroes in that series -- hitting two key late-game shots that fueled Heat victories.

In Game 3, with the Heat down 2-0, Payton hit a jumper from the right wing in the waning seconds to cap a 98-96 comeback win by Miami -- which wouldn't lose another game. In Game 5, his layup with 29.8 seconds left helped the Heat eke out a 101-100 win. Two nights later, the championship trophy was in his hands.

Miami is Payton's fifth team, but the first that asked him primarily to be a backup; he started all but six games in his career before last season. Over his career, he has averaged 16.9 points, 6.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game, plus he ranks among the league's all-time leaders in steals (2,402), assists (8,765) minutes (45,614) and points (21,455).

MavsX · 09-07-2006, 10:27 AM

my prediction is miami doesn't even make the eastern conference finals in 06' 07.

Flacolaco · 09-07-2006, 10:48 AM

Quote:

The veteran guard signed a one-year deal Wednesday to return to the Miami Heat, meaning the defending NBA champions have every player from last season's regular postseason rotation under contract for the coming year.

Yeah I dont know..... they seem to be a bit on the old side. But who do you say the favorite in the East is next year if not them?

(Also, Gary Payton can kiss the fattest part of my ass)

MavsX · 09-07-2006, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Yeah I dont know..... they seem to be a bit on the old side. But who do you say the favorite in the East is next year if not them?

(Also, Gary Payton can kiss the fattest part of my ass)

i dont know, i dont want to pick any one team for fear of it being resurfaced a year from now...i think that the east has some good teams that can challenge the champs and more than likely stop the heat--cold in their tracks...Indiana, Cleveland, Chicago--those teams might not be "complete" teams yet..but i think they could definitely challenge them...oh and what about Detroit....

MightyToine · 09-07-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavsX

my prediction is miami doesn't even make the eastern conference finals in 06' 07.

And Dallas doesn't even make the Western Conference Finals either....

dude1394 · 09-07-2006, 01:28 PM

I can easily see them getting back to the finals. The team that you would have expected to challenge them (the pistons) are done imo. They are also due for some injury issues.

I don't see anyone else to be honest. You might make a case for Cleveland because of the ref-love Lebron will be getting but wahhhed will still be there and they used the shaq/motumbo bashing pretty effectively. If the league continues to let shaq/mutumbo put elbows in peoples faces with no recourse, they easily could repeat.

MavsX · 09-07-2006, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyToine

And Dallas doesn't even make the Western Conference Finals either....

BOO this man!!!

BOO BOO Booooooooooooooo

Flacolaco · 09-07-2006, 01:32 PM

Quote:

....continues to let shaq/mutumbo put elbows in peoples faces.....

Are you talking about Mourning?

MavsX · 09-07-2006, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude1394

I can easily see them getting back to the finals. The team that you would have expected to challenge them (the pistons) are done imo. They are also due for some injury issues.

I don't see anyone else to be honest. You might make a case for Cleveland because of the ref-love Lebron will be getting but wahhhed will still be there and they used the shaq/motumbo bashing pretty effectively. If the league continues to let shaq/mutumbo put elbows in peoples faces with no recourse, they easily could repeat.

valid point. Maybe what i should say is, "I don't want to see them get to the finals", instead of "i dont think they can make it". I also hate shaq...and as previously discussed in many, many other threads i really hate Antoine walker.

fluid.forty.one · 09-07-2006, 04:15 PM

Sweet, I want that bastard to end his career on a low point.

dude1394 · 09-07-2006, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flacolaco

Are you talking about Mourning?

I guess, whoever that other center was. I don't recall and don't really care enough to look it up.

nashtymavsfan13 · 09-07-2006, 09:12 PM

GP shoulda retired, end on a high note. He's getting too old...

mqywaaah · 09-07-2006, 10:38 PM

Yeah! Good for Gary Payon!

nah-vit-ski · 09-08-2006, 11:54 PM

Miami couldn't have won without his (very) clutch shots. I know the officials made some "clutch" calls too, but he made the shots that mattered the most.

Underdog · 09-09-2006, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nashtymavsfan13

GP shoulda retired, end on a high note. He's getting too old...

That goes for 'Zo & probably a few others too...

MightyToine · 09-10-2006, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavsX

BOO this man!!!

BOO BOO Booooooooooooooo

It's great to be a villain.

MightyToine · 09-10-2006, 10:58 AM

GP and ZO, no matter if they repeat or not.....Them winning last year ensures that when they retire(most likely after next year), they will still be going out on a high note.

Sure, it would be nice if they went the same way as the Admiral did prior to retirement but if they don't, I doubt they'd be all broken up about it....

They GOT what they came for....Now everything from here on is nothing but Gravy....

...or in Walker's case, Fried Chicken.

alby · 09-10-2006, 11:26 AM

true.

they got what they came for
not what they earned

mqywaaah · 09-10-2006, 10:36 PM

Zo, Payton, and Riley should've retired while on top! Nuff said.

Dirkadirkastan · 09-11-2006, 02:17 AM

The thought of winning a championship in the AAC is great, but imagine winning it all in Miami. Could that possibly surpass doing the same thing in Dallas?

That mental picture is what makes me glad those guys re-signed. It is, however remote, still a possibility.

spreedom · 09-11-2006, 02:25 AM

Payton made clutch shots? The lasting image of him I'll have, that will define his post-Sonics career, will always be when he chucked up a brutal looking layup that Damp just barely deflected (the only reason it went in) and GP talking mad game afterwards.. the guy has NOTHING left in the tank and I hope he ends his career with his face buried in a towel at the end of a losing Heat's bench...

fluid.forty.one · 09-11-2006, 03:10 AM

Puck Fairy "Gay"ton.

Dirkadirkastan · 09-11-2006, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Puck Fairy "Gay"ton.

Props.

MavsX · 09-11-2006, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluid.forty.one

Puck Fairy "Gay"ton.

that is cool, and by cool i mean totally sweet

Underdog · 09-11-2006, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mqywaaah

Zo, Payton, and Riley should've retired while on top! Nuff said.

...yeah, and WADE should retire while he's on top as well! (I don't think he'll ever live up to the God-status he was granted in the Finals, so why bother? Just walk away from the game as a legend...)

fluid.forty.one · 09-11-2006, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavsX

that is cool, and by cool i mean totally sweet

If we play them again in the finals, we definatly have to get a chant going.

MightyToine · 09-12-2006, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirkadirkastan

The thought of winning a championship in the AAC is great, but imagine winning it all in Miami. Could that possibly surpass doing the same thing in Dallas?

That mental picture is what makes me glad those guys re-signed. It is, however remote, still a possibility.

Miami would have to have a better record than Dallas in order for that to even have remote possibility of occurring....which it won't. Miami doesn't seem to care so much(just enough) about the Regular Season like Dallas does....

MightyToine · 09-12-2006, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spreedom

Payton made clutch shots? The lasting image of him I'll have, that will define his post-Sonics career, will always be when he chucked up a brutal looking layup that Damp just barely deflected (the only reason it went in) and GP talking mad game afterwards.. the guy has NOTHING left in the tank and I hope he ends his career with his face buried in a towel at the end of a losing Heat's bench...

Actually, for some odd reason, my lasting image of him was his "Yapping at Ref Steve Javy during a Heat Offensive possession, passing the ball to Wade who passed it out of a double-team to a yapping GP and losing the ball.....and if it wasn't for Zo playing "volleyball" afterward, who knows how the game would've turned out."

Dirkadirkastan · 09-12-2006, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyToine

Actually, for some odd reason, my lasting image of him was his "Yapping at Ref Steve Javy during a Heat Offensive possession, passing the ball to Wade who passed it out of a double-team to a yapping GP and losing the ball.....and if it wasn't for Zo playing "volleyball" afterward, who knows how the game would've turned out."

My lasting mental picture of Payton is him yelling at Wade. Fifteen strong, huh?

And my lasting image of Heat fans is when they booed their own team in the Finals. That was a disgrace.

Five-ofan · 09-12-2006, 07:36 AM

GP PLEASE retire. You were so awesome for a long time and its just sad to see what you have become. Its like simmons said, should we really be shocked when gary payton makes a big time play at the end of a game? This is Gary Freakin Payton. He is the best pg of anyone whose career started after stocktons. He is a top 10 all time pg. He is a first ballot HOFer.

MavsX · 09-13-2006, 03:28 PM

greedy bastard!