Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Elfrid Payton

The Good and The Bad

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/29/2016.

When Elfrid Payton was on and playing well, the Orlando Magic were an incredibly tough team to beat.

Even without a consistent jump shot, Payton was able to get into the paint and control the offense. He could get around a screen and get into the paint, dishing to the open man. He could find his own shot and his floater was solid. Payton knew how to attack and get the defense moving.

That is a big thing for this Magic offense. With few shooters and few players who could break defenders off the dribble, off-ball movement was key. Payton was one of the few who could find his way into the paint and make the defense react to him.

Defensively, he has all the tools to be a great defender. And he showed that throughout the season. He would be strong enough to lock down defenders and give the Magic’s defense time behind him to set.

So much of the season though, he was inconsistent.

At some point in December, he sprained his ankle and he was clearly a step slow. Opposing point guards began getting into the paint with relative ease and it tore up the Magic defense. Orlando was never the same team after Payton’s injury and Payton took a while to get back to full speed again.

The problems would soon extend to the offensive end. He was not moving the ball up the floor quickly, pounding the air out of it without making much progress. Perhaps he was still slowed by the ankle injury. But the Magic offense was now stalling with Payton waiting too long to make his attack and the team becoming stagnant.

Orlando quite literally went how Payton went. And while he struggled to be more consistent — sometimes getting subtly called out in press conferences and growing more visibly frustrated — the Magic struggled overall.

That is how important the point guard position can be.

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