Elfrid Payton remains the Orlando Magic’s best point guard option

How should the Orlando Magic proceed with Elfrid Payton and the point guard logjam for the rest of the season? It is clear Elfrid Payton is still the guy.

For the Orlando Magic, one of the most important questions is the point guard position, which became a bit of a logjam with the midseason acquisition of Detroit Pistons reserve Brandon Jennings.

Elfrid Payton seemed entrenched as the starting point guard and the future of the team, but it has also become apparent Payton can be inconsistent at times. There have been several instances where coach Scott Skiles opted to finish the game with another player at the point. Not to mention Skiles throwing subtle jabs at Payton and the tone he sets at point guard.

At no point is a team’s season ever truly lost.

Obviously, for winning teams, the carrot is the chance at a championship or at least a deep playoff run. But even for losing teams with no credible chance at the playoffs, winning is its own reward and there is always something to find out about the team as it plays out the remaining games on the schedule.

And point guard remains perhaps the most important position on the floor. Questions have been raised on Payton and where the Magic stand at point guard with four players now very capable of manning that position.

The logical place to start answering this question is second-year guard and incumbent starter Elfrid Payton. With all of the disappointment this season, some of which has been directed at Payton’s perceived lack of development, it is easy to forget Payton came to Orlando with some fanfare — and a heavy price tag — in the summer of 2014.

What is clear about Payton is the Magic are invested in him and have high hopes for him, so for both short-term and long-term purposes, the Magic would be smart to integrate Payton back into the starting lineup when he is ready to return fully from his right elbow sprain and trust him to be the team’s starting point guard.

There is no indication he is anything but that, even as he has struggled some in this sophomore season in the NBA.

To win in the short term (which the Magic should try to do, as opposed to tanking for draft position), Payton has the best case for point guard minutes because he is simply the best option on the team right now.

Brandon Jennings is clearly still recovering from his Achilles injury, offseason acquisition C.J. Watson has not been able to find any rhythm this season after an early-season calf injury cost him three months and Shabazz Napier has largely been ineffective whenever chances arise for the fourth-string point guard.

Payton has proven to be an essential part of the Magic’s offense, the best evidence for that notion perhaps being how futile the offense sometimes looked when he is out with injury or taking a breather.

The Magic have a 100.3 offensive rating with Payton on the floor this season suggesting his benefit is not as great. It is on defense though where Payton seems to make a bigger difference.

And despite his defense looking like it has regressed some, he is currently ranked a respectable 13th among point guards in Defensive Real Plus-Minus, corroborating the perceived upside in that area of his game. The Magic post a 103.6 defensive rating with him on the floor, slightly better than the team’s 104.0 season mark.

He also plays with a bit of an edge the current Magic roster seems to lack, like when he went mano-a-mano with Dwyane Wade several times late in the Magic’s Dec. 26, 2015 loss to the Heat.

If the goal is to win now, Payton is still the clear choice at the point.

His potential to turn into a prime Rajon Rondo-like stat stuffer is still there (remember the back-to-back triple doubles in his rookie year?). His jumper, though still inconsistent, is improving, particularly from the 3-point line (37.7 percent so far this year although he only shoots 1.3 threes per game). And when he is focused on defense, he can be an absolute pit bull with all of the traits a team looks for in a stopper.

There is a reason general manager Rob Hennigan forked over several key assets to get Payton, and there is a reason that at the start of this season, Payton was the only Magic player projected by FiveThirtyEight as a “future all-star.”

FiveThirtyEight projected Payton to gain 5.7 wins above replacement player at the beginning of the season, according to the formula from that initial article, Payton is posting a -1.6 wins above replacement player.

There is certainly some form of disconnect or step back Payton has taken.

But still, no other point guard on the Magic has potential like Payton does. And as a young player (just 22 years old), he needs the reps to unlock that potential.

Of course, Payton has his limitations as well, and the remaining games on the schedule can also serve to help the Magic see how those limitations should impact the near future.

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Can the Magic craft an offense with enough floor spacing when teams are going to constantly duck under Payton pick-and-rolls (especially with Victor Oladipo in the backcourt, another player whose outside shooting is still developing)? Can Payton’s defensive intensity be consistent enough to depend on night after night?

These questions are legitimate.

However, what is not as much of a question is whether the Magic should still be committed to Payton, at least for now. Whether it is to win in the near future or to find out more information for the long term, the Magic should be rolling with him over the veteran options on the bench for the most part.

It will be interesting to see if Jennings can return to form with more reps and another offseason to rehab his Achilles. The Magic might be smart to bring him back on a short deal to see if he can prove himself worthy of a longer commitment, with a “microwave” sort of role off the bench looking like the best-case possibility for now.

Watson could still turn into a steadying veteran presence the Magic have said they have been looking for. Between the two of these players for the rest of the season, Jennings is probably the better option because of the higher potential if he returns to form and his familiarity with Skiles.

But as of now, Elfrid Payton is the best point guard on the Magic roster. No matter how you slice it, he should be the floor general for the near future.