How Cameron Payne Gave the Bench Life in his Return to the 76ers

An hour-and-a-half before the Philadelphia 76ers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday evening, Nick Nurse wasn’t fully sure if he would play Cameron Payne. After all, Payne had officially signed with the team on Wednesday and played in Serbia less than a week ago.

Nurse, however, trusted his instincts and deployed him to start the second quarter, when the 76ers trailed by two. It took three-and-a-half minutes for Payne to tally three assists, flipping Philadelphia’s two-point deficit into a two-point lead.

While the 76ers (30-25) lost to the Hawks (27-30), 117-107, Payne displayed the ball-handling skills that seemingly enticed Philadelphia to sign him to a rest-of-season contract. He posted five assists and two steals against Atlanta in 10 minutes in his 76ers debut. The guard must find his scoring rhythm going forward, but his court vision will benefit Philadelphia while it navigates its second unit rotation.

Philadelphia has struggled to generate consistent reserve production, ranking third-lowest in bench points per game in the NBA, according to NBA.com. Quentin Grimes (12.7 points) is the 76ers’ most reliable reserve scorer, but his shooting variance often determines his offensive impact. Paul George provided stability, anchoring Philadelphia’s second unit, but his 25-game suspension took that away.

The 76ers’ ball-handling woes worsened when they traded Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 4. Philadelphia turned to Trendon Watford to be a de facto point guard, but the offense has struggled with him at the helm. The 76ers have scored 97.8 points per 100 possessions with Watford on the court since the trade, per NBA.com.

Enter Payne.

Tyrese Maxey rested to start the second period against the Hawks and Payne took his place at point guard. He brought the ball up to halfcourt and routinely found Grimes in his spots from three-point range. Before Thursday's game, the last time that Grimes hit a three was Philadelphia’s 113-94 win against the Golden State Warriors on February 3.

“I think we know Cam can kind of generate offense,” Nurse said after the game. “He can get up the floor, play all parts of the pick-and-roll, which is really helpful. He made some good plays out of that. He’ll turn the corner, he’ll hit the big, he’ll get it to the weak side and it was just Quentin happened to be there.”

Payne’s assists weren’t flashy—he simply made the right reads. That’s all the 76ers need. He created eight of Grimes’ 14 points as well as easy looks for VJ Edgecombe and Andre Drummond out of pick-and-rolls. Payne even made an impact defensively by helping in gaps to force turnovers—something that Nurse loves.

The only blemish on Payne’s limited stint was that he missed all three of his shot attempts, which came from beyond the arc. However, the numbers suggest not to worry, as the 31-year-old is a career 36.8% long-range shooter. Time will tell whether Payne will be a mainstay in the rotation, but his court vision can certainly help the 76ers in a pinch.