Gary Payton II Ruled Out Monday With Knee Injury

Gary Payton II is officially out for Monday's game with a knee injury, according to the latest drop from Underdog NBA.

The Golden State Warriors are once again losing their premier perimeter pest, which means opposing point guards can actually breathe for a few minutes without someone living in their jersey.

"Underdog NBA tweeted: 'Gary Payton II (knee) listed out Monday.'"

The man's medical chart reads like a mechanic's invoice at this point. Over the last few years, Payton has dealt with a left elbow issue, a shin problem, a partial thumb ligament tear, and now this knee flare-up.

Being a defensive specialist in the modern NBA basically means volunteering for a minor car crash every other night.

Payton has been logging around 11 minutes a game so far this season, but his impact is always louder than the box score. He is the guy Steve Kerr throws into the fire when the defensive rotation needs an immediate jolt of chaos.

For anyone staring at the odds screen, this is the kind of rotational news that quietly shifts the math. When a guy who routinely blows up pick-and-rolls is in street clothes, opposing guards suddenly have a lot more runway to hit their prop totals.

Golden State will have to patch together those non-Steph Curry minutes with the rest of the rotation. We will see if this knee issue is just a quick maintenance day for the veteran guard or the start of another extended stint in the trainer's room.