Cam Payne’s Mentality is a Major Plus for 76ers

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded Patrick Beverley away to the Milwaukee Bucks, they replaced the veteran guard with Cam Payne.

While Payne saw plenty of playing time in the first few games he suited up for the Sixers, it was evident that his playing time could decrease after the Kyle Lowry acquisition and the improvement in the health department.

With Lowry around to make his debut last Friday night against the New York Knicks, Payne saw his 26 minutes per game drop to just nine minutes of playing time. While he saw an increase on Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the absence of Lowry, who got the night off due to rest and reconditioning, Payne doesn’t anticipate nearly 20 minutes per night — but that hasn’t affected his mindset with the team.

“Honestly, I’m just a ‘Whatever you need right now’ kind of guy,” Payne told reporters on Friday. “If a guy is out, I’m here.”

Lowry was out — so Payne picked up 19 minutes of action against the Cavs and was quite active off the bench. Putting up 11 shots from the field, with six of them coming from beyond the arc, Payne scored 16 points, leading Philly’s group of reserves.

Lowry was back as soon as Sunday afternoon’s game against the Bucks. And with De’Anthony Melton working his way back to a normalized role, that could mean fewer opportunities for Payne as time goes on.

“I want to be out there, and obviously, I want to keep showing the league that I’m a pretty good player, but our team stacked, man,” Payne finished. “Our team is stacked, and if someone’s out, then next one. Next one man up, that’s kind of like how we got to get it right now. Like we said, we’re loaded, and we got to stay ready.”

When Payne was getting steady playing time off the bench for the Sixers, he averaged 11 points and five assists. While his shooting was shaky, knocking down just 37 percent of his field goals, Payne proved to be a valuable depth piece. The fact that he’s content with being a “next-man-up” player is a major plus for the Sixers, who need guys to be ready when called upon.