No Shot: Orlando Magic Ex Elfrid Payton - Why Isn't He Signed?
It all was working in Orlando for Elfrid Payton for a moment there.
Or actually, for almost four years of moments for the No. 10 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, as the 6-3 point guard served as a starter with the Orlando Magic, collecting accolades right from the beginning, including a Rookie of the Month award, a handful of triple-doubles and 63 starts.
The starts kept coming and the minutes stayed around 30 per and the defensive-minded Payton increased his scoring average, too. Indeed, even after he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, then in New Orleans, then with the New York Knicks, he remained a first-teamer ...
Until last season, back in Phoenix, where he was a non-factor.
And until this offseason, when Payton - after having made five moves to teams in five years - suddenly doesn't have a team at all.
Why not?
He's just 28, but he has sort of fallen through the cracks of free agency this offseason, and most observers cite in part his occasional struggles with injuries, as he's dealt with problems here and there with ankle and hamstring injuries.
But what this is really about: While he is athletic enough, and while he can distribute, and while he can defend ... Elfrid Payton cannot shoot.
OK, that's a little harsh. But relatively speaking, he cannot shoot.
Last year, coming off the bench for a very good Suns team, he played 10 minutes per game - about one-third his usual numbers, which included that stint with with the Knicks that was so successful he was a starter on a playoff team. But in his minutes, he became literally the NBA's poorest shooter.
He was 38 percent from the floor - a career-low.
He was 22 percent from the arc - his typical low.
He was 37 percent from the free-throw line - a career-low that is simply unfathomable.
These failures are nothing new, and they have become ingrained into Elf's reputation ... and by the time a guy shoots back-to-back free-throw airballs ... they have become ingrained into his psyche.
So Payton is an unrestricted free agent, looking for a sixth team in a sixth year to give him a shot - a shot that he could improve greatly upon if he could somehow make a shot.
