Golden State Warriors NBA Champion Reacts to Former Teammate’s Big News

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished first in the Western Conference standings last season, but were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals.

While they did not advance as far in the playoffs as they wanted to, the Thunder had a very solid season that they project to improve upon next year. Adding two-time All-Defensive guard Alex Caruso, Oklahoma City traded for one of the NBA’s elite role players earlier this offseason.

Sending Josh Giddey to Chicago, who was a less than ideal fit in their starting lineup, Oklahoma City made a great move to strengthen their already talented roster.

In an announcement on Instagram, Caruso shared that he is now engaged.

The 2020 NBA champion received several messages from current NBA players, including Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II.

Mar 7, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) and Chicago Bulls forward Alex Caruso (6) exchange jerseys after the game at Chase Center.

Payton won a championship with the Warriors in 2022 and is in his second stint with the team after a brief stop with the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022-23 NBA season. Playing briefly with Caruso during the 2017-18 NBA season, Payton appeared in 11 games for the Los Angeles Lakers that year.

An elite role player himself, Payton has struggled to stay on the court, but has been very productive when healthy.

Picking up his $9.1M player option for next season, Payton will return to the Warriors for the final year of his three-year, $26.1M deal he signed with Portland.

If he can stay healthy, Payton should have an opportunity to play a lot of key minutes for Golden State next season.