Indiana Pacers sign guard Elfrid Payton, who was with G League affiliate last year
The Indiana Pacers have signed guard Elfird Payton to a contract. The team announced the agreement on Friday afternoon.
A league source tells AllPacers that it's an Exhibit 10 contract. That means Payton will get a financial bonus if he is waived by the Pacers and then reports to their G League affiliate, The Mad Ants, for at least 60 days. The Mad Ants already own Payton's G League affiliate rights.
Assuming Payton ends up with the G League club, he will bring needed point guard depth to the group. They lost David Stockton this offseason, and the future of Gabe York is still not known. Payton can pair with two-way contract guard Isaiah Wong as well as Darius McGhee and Craig Sword in the backcourt, assuming the latter two report to the Mad Ants.
Payton has eight years of NBA experience under his belt after being drafted 10th overall in 2014. He last played in the association for the Phoenix Suns during the 2021-22 season.
He rejoins the Pacers organization following a short stint with the Mad Ants. He played in 10 games for the franchise last season and averaged 7.9 points and 6.0 assists per game.
"I liked the fact that they [are] set up in Indiana, close to an NBA facility to be able to have access to — to be able to work out and stuff like that. It just kind of made sense," Payton told AllPacers last season after joining the Mad Ants. Now, with the team relocating from Fort Wayne to Noblesville, all of their practices and games will take place in Pacers' facilities.
Payton joins Jordan Bell as the players currently on Exhibit 10 deals with Indiana. Because the Mad Ants already have the rights to both players, each NBA veteran could be waived before training camp even starts.
The Pacers roster now stands at 20. The maximum number of players a team can carry in the offseason is 21, so Indiana could make a move or two before finalizing their training camp roster in the coming days. They waived Pedro Bradshaw and Craig Sword yesterday.
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