Draft workout a reminder of Payton’s place
Raptors coach Dwane Casey held prospect Gary Payton II when he was a boy in Seattle
Dwane Casey felt every one of his 59 years as he leaned against a wall at the Toronto Raptors’ practice facility watching a group of young NBA draft-eligible athletes go through their paces.
Among the group of six players was Gary Payton II, the son of the Seattle Supersonics Hall of Famer, and the memories flooded over the Raptors head coach.
“I was just telling Little G that I’ve got pictures of him at home, holding him as a little kid,” Casey said. “They (Payton and his brother Julian) would come to the gym with Gary all the time . . . and it does, it dates you.”
The 23-year-old Payton, a six-foot-three guard projected as a likely second-round pick in the June 23 draft, remembers the days well. Casey was an assistant coach with Seattle when Payton’s father played.
“It brings back so many memories from Key Arena, Supersonic days, can’t express how much I miss them days,” Payton said. “It’s crazy that we’re at this point but it’s exciting at the same time. I would love to come here and play for coach Casey . . . he’s a great guy and I’d love to fight for him.”
The resemblances of father and son are more nuanced than they are obvious.
The son is sturdier at his age than his dad was — “Gary was still rail thin . . . Little G is thicker,” Casey said — but their games aren’t that much different.
The son was the Pac-12 defensive player of the year the last two seasons for Oregon State, and his dad was known as The Glove for his defensive talents. Casey sees the similarities.
“It’s fun to see and you can see his mannerisms are like Gary’s, his toughness,” Casey said. “He’s going to be a player. He just has to work on his three-point shot, which is right there, like most young guys.
“It was fun to see and I was really excited about today to come and see him.”
But despite that obvious storyline and a couple of other easy tales to spin, the first of maybe half-a-dozen gang workouts at the Biosteel Centre was more precautionary than proactive for the Raptors’ brain trust.
With the ninth and 27th picks in the first round — the Raptors don’t have a second-round selection — it would be a stretch to see Toronto taking any of Payton, Gonzaga forward Kyle Wiltjer, Hawaii and Mississauga project Stefan Jankovic, No- tre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson, Florida forward Dorian Finney-Smith or Texas A&M forward Jalen Jones with either of their selections.
“Draft night is such a crazy night where anything can happen,” Raptors scouting director Dan Tolzman said. “We may be looking at players where there’s no positional need for us right now, but anything can happen on draft night and, if it does, we just want to make sure we have our ducks in a row.
“We have rankings of players, regardless of position, that we like, and we know that if we end up making a move or changing up our roster a bit, we can plug in this guy and maybe not miss a beat . . . this is kind of the fact-finding time of year.”
Wiltjer, the son of former Canadian team stalwart Greg Wiltjer, is treating the tedious process of workout after workout after workout as an adventure. He said Toronto was his sixth stop and he’s got at least that many more to go.
“One thing that’s surprised me is how much fun I’m having . . . just getting to go to the cities and see the facilities, see how you’re treated, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
“I know it’s a lot of tough work and guys complain about the travel but it’s such a blessing and really fun.”