Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Elfrid Payton

The Good and the Bad

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/29/2015.

Elfrid Payton, simply, lacks shooting ability.

It is the glaring black mark on what could be a dominant offensive attack. Payton either needed to get directly to the basket or rely on a streaky tear drop jumper to get his buckets. Teams dared him to shoot, and sometimes he still made them pay by taking it right at the rim.

But at times, it became clear Payton just did not trust his shot at all. He hesitated on a look he should have taken or made an extra pass when one was unnecessary.

With a better jumper, his entire offensive arsenal will be that much more effective.

Payton’s massive hands may make it difficult for him to improve his shooting with his current form. Huge hands typically impede a shooter’s ability to keep his palm off the ball, and those pitfalls are seen when Payton takes the free throw line. It is just like the issues Rajon Rondo has had, but the hope isPayton overcomes it with greater ease.

Payton hit just 55.1 percent from the line this year, and he was 26 percent from behind the arc. While he was 51.5 percent within three feet, he shot 37 percent from 3-to-10 feet and just 32 percent from 10-to-16 feet.

These are all ranges at which he has to be more effective to be the best pick-and-roll partner he can be. Teams are going to continue to surrender these shots to Payton until he comfortably hits mid-40 percentages in the mid-range.

Those are his shortcomings, but the good far outweighs the bad.

Payton demonstrated all the personality traits of someone who can succeed. He showed he is remarkably humble and hungry, and that success will not go to his head. Following his second triple-double, it was as though he had just played one more game, not as though he dominated an All-Star in Damian Lillard, or that the Magic had knocked off a contending Western Conference team.

At his best, he showed he could be the type of talent to make an All-NBA first team.

Payton appeared in all 82 games (the only player on the Magic to do so) and played 30 minutes or more in 48 of those appearances. He had 10 assists or more on 13 occasions, and the number may have been higher still if not for the period of games James Borrego inexplicably started Willie Green.

The Magic may have had to take their bumps and bruises with Payton and his inexperience, but the benefits of riding through his struggles far outweigh the importance of sneaking games out with Green.

Payton’s ball skills and his fakes are of a quality rarely seen. A simple hesitation and perfectly executed head or ball fake often leaves him with a wide open look in the paint.

When he is not as successful at losing the defender, he is often able to set up Dewayne Dedmon or Nikola Vucevic under the basket. When the Magic began the season they won four of their first 10 games with Payton starting, and the improvement to .500 basketball begins with his creative abilities.

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