Elfrid Payton’s defensive development crucial to the offseason

After a disappointing 2015-16 season Elfrid Payton has a few things to work on so he can reclaim his spot as one of Orlando’s core players.

Elfrid Payton has experienced a roller-coaster career in his first two seasons as a NBA point guard.

In his rookie year, Payton showed a lot of promise as a defender and was named a First Team All-Rookie player. In his sophomore campaign, Payton took a large step back as his coach seemingly had a vendetta against him from the jump.

Now, with Scott Skiles gone and the reports the Magic chose Payton over Skiles, eyes are on Payton to prove Skiles was the coach many thought he was — a taskmaster who wants his young talent to play a certain way and discards what does not fit.

To say the least, the Magic are expecting a lot of things from Elfrid Payton and putting trust in him to return to his rookie form and grow from it in 2017.

The biggest knock on Elfrid Payton’s game is his lack of a jump shot at the lead guard spot. Payton shot 26 percent from deep as a rookie, but did improve that number in his second season ticking up to 32 percent. But overall, his jump shot numbers are down from his rookie season. Payton shot 35 percent on jumpers his rookie season compared to 33 percent in his second year.

While Payton has completely overhauled his jump shot since college, there are still some noticeable flaws. Off the dribble, Payton struggles mightily to get his shot off smoothly. There is a little hitch near the top of his shot still.

His set shot is not quick at all, there are a lot of moving parts and his shot is still a little catapult like which increases the likelihood of error in mechanics.

Elfrid Payton may never become a threat as a jump shooter, and admittedly that would hurt Orlando’s offensive spacing, but there are things that Payton can work on that could allow the team to ignore that issue.

This is where much of the focus is, but it is not the most important thing for Payton to develop.

No, the most important aspect of Elfrid Payton’s development is the development of his defense.

In his rookie season, Payton showed a lot of promise defensively. He pressured ball handlers, forced turnovers and routinely competed well against the deepest spot in the league nightly. To top it off, that defensive potential shined through while playing in a horrendous scheme under Jacque Vaughn.

Fast Forward to the 2016 season, Payton’s defense fell off a cliff.

Payton was routinely blown up by screens that left the defense in shambles. The pressure that Payton placed on ball handlers became far too rare of a sight and Payton was routinely beaten by opposing point guards. His defensive win shares dropped from 2.3 to 1.7 and his defensive box plus-minus dipped from 0.8 to -0.5. Quite literally, Payton went from a positive defensive impact to a negative one.

One focus for Payton needs to be adding some more strength to his frame. Payton has certainly added some strength since entering the NBA, but he is still very wiry. He needs to become thicker so he can fight through screens better and put up more resistance against stronger guards like John Wall and Russell Westbrook.

Somebody Payton might consider modeling his defensive game after is Utah Jazz point guard George Hill. Hill has roughly the same dimensions physically as Payton. Hill uses his length very well, he constantly keeps pressure on guards so they cannot make easy passes.

Hill also uses his frame well when he get into his stance, he gets very wide and his added strength does not allow stronger players to go right through him.

While there are plenty of other things Elfrid Payton can improve on such as keeping the tempo pushed, getting to the free throw line consistently, or improving his explosiveness, defense will be the key to Elfrid Payton’s development.

Next: Shooting leap needed from Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon

If Elfrid Payton can become one of the better defensive point guards in the NBA, he will have a shot at being Orlando’s point guard of the future.