Could Orlando’s Elfrid Payton be Toast of 2014 Rookie Class?
This season will not be the year that the league sits back and notices Payton. The Magic are likely out of the playoff picture barring a resolute finish in which the team wins over two-thirds of its games.
But in the future, the Magic will become a team people will tune in to watch on League Pass, the eventual playoff berth will come, and if Wiggins, Parker or both (even Joel Embiid) are better than Payton, it will likely be by the means of all three being All-Stars in the NBA.
By all accounts, that is a very good draft.
This season, Wiggins is averaging 15 points, four rebounds and two assists per game on 43.5 percent shooting. Payton’s 7.9 point, 5.8 assist and 2.6 rebounds do not really measure up statistically.
But that is the problem, the numbers may never match up for a pass-first playmaking rookie point guard and a high-usage, scoring wing. It is easier to notice the gaudy scoring numbers.
If the NBA’s media is bound by voting to the basis of a stat sheet, this award is Wiggins’ to lose.
And it really is. But for whatever it is worth, the basketball purists will observe these two players and decide the race is far closer than the voting will likely dictate this season.
This is a case of a very good NBA player in Wiggins, who some have compared to NBA legend Scottie Pippen, and a point guard whose talents have to be seen to be appreciated.
Both are electric highlight makers, but the attention has been on Wiggins since day one since he was the No. 1 overall pick and player who ultimately brought Kevin Love to Cleveland.
The T-Wolves traded (at that time) arguably the best power forward in the NBA for a youngster from Canada who is said to be a franchise talent. Some are already ready to write that down as fact, even. But Magic fans are equally as ready to say that Payton has arrived, and that he’s pretty darn great, too.