Orlando Magic: Elfrid Payton Should Embrace Rajon Rondo Comparisons

For the Orlando Magic, they may have ideas of finally making a serious run at the playoffs once the season begins. While they have been on the wrong end of the scoreline in their preseason games so far though, there’s been much to like about how the team has played.

Indeed, new head coach Scott Skiles already has his players buying into his defensive system and playing with intensity during the preseason, because they know what will happen if they don’t give their all on that end.

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Second-year point guard Elfrid Payton will have a lot to say about how this team performs on both ends of the court this coming year as well. As a rookie his strengths and weaknesses were highlighted regularly, and it is something that is likely to not change too much this time out either.

Arguably the most promising skill the guy possesses is the fact that already it looks like the game is slowed down to his pace when he’s on the court.

He never looks rushed on the ball and his ability to pick out a pass benefits massively as a result. Allowing the game to come to you is something it can take some eventual star players years to figure out. So to see it happen organically and quickly for Payton is a huge plus.

When you add in his inability to hit jump shots consistently and his disruptive defensive nature, the comparisons to Rajon Rondo begin to ring out, just as they did for much of last season.

This is by no means a bad thing however, as fans seem to have forgotten just how good Rondo was at the height of his powers. He may never be the same player again thanks to injury and an attitude that has found him playing for the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings, but at one point he was a top five point guard in this league.

So when you take a look at Payton’s numbers and compare them to that of Rondo, perhaps it’s finally time to really embrace the comparison between the two?

Again, people forget that when Rondo was drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the 21st pick in the 2006 NBA Draft (he was immediately traded to the Boston Celtics) he joined a team in Boston that was pretty bad. So, like Payton, his first season he didn’t have a ton to work with on the court, although having an eventual Hall of Famer like Paul Pierce certainly helps.

It was only when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived, however, that we really saw Rondo’s worth.

That Celtics team that won the 2008 championship had what many called a “Big Three” of Pierce, Allen and Garnett. The reality however is that, if not for Rondo’s ability to pick out a pass and defend opposing player’s best guard, that team may not have gone all the way to a title.

That is not to say that Rondo was the X-factor that season, Garnett most certainly was, but he was just as important as any other player on that team.

Which is kind of exciting when you realize Payton could absolutely end up like this as well. Right now he plays with some good players, but bar Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic (And possibly Tobias Harris) there aren’t too many players on that Magic roster that other teams would really love to have on their team.

Yet last season Payton easily led all rookies in assists (6.5 per game) and his average was good enough to put him 14th in the NBA overall.

That’s teeing up average teammates at a great rate and it crushes Rondo’s rookie season assists average as well (3.8). The flip side of that however is that Payton played just over seven minutes more on any given night than Rondo did back then, and he was trusted early on by the team to just go out and play his game, regardless of results.

But that kind of nurturing, of learning on the job, is valuable experience and a luxury not every rookie is blessed with.

It’s conceivable (And in the minds of many Magic fans, almost expected) that in the next three years the team will have an All-Star or two grow from within, while also adding genuine talent through free agency. Can you imagine a more mature Payton laying that calibre of player up every night?

Not only would it draw similarities to the Rondo that helped Boston capture a title, it might even surpass him.

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Coming at it from another angle, Payton’s jump shooting was critiqued heavily last year, and with good reason. Put simply, he’s not very good at shooting the ball, and to date doesn’t really have any go to spot on the floor if ever he’s stuck in a jam.

The flip side of that however is that he’s excellent at attacking the basket, and this is a skill that will open up the floor for the likes of Mario Hezonja in the future.

Back to the shooting though and like Rondo before him, it needs plenty of work. However, if you want to take positives from a bad situation, Payton shot 26 percent from three-point territory last year. A terrible number by all accounts, and reason enough to think that he’d be benched if he lets more of those things fly this year.

But Rondo put up an even more horrendous 21 percent from downtown his rookie year.

Why this may hold relevance in the future is because during Rondo’s disastrous stint with the Dallas Mavericks last season, he actually shot the ball well from deep, hitting them at a 35 percent clip. That’s not a bad number at all when you consider how bad he once was, and it’s a part of his game that flies under the radar.

It’s possible then that Payton too could one day see his long distance numbers climb into acceptable territory. It would be even better if this was timed right as the team approached contention status once again.

So while the NBA has moved away from point guards like Rondo, guys who are elite passers and defenders but you can’t consistently shoot the ball, there’s actually plenty of reasons to be happy about Payton going down the same route. The NBA is constantly changing, and right now players like Rondo and Payton and Dennis Schroder are not really popular.

But if the Magic stick with this guy and surround him with the right talent, they may just have Rajon Rondo 2.0 on their hands.

As it is he did a good job adjusting to the league and playing with decent players last year. But as this team improves, you feel that Payton will as well, that he’s the kind of player who becomes better when you surround him with a higher level of talent.

Given his unselfish passing ways and the fact he’s playing under a defensive minded coach in Skiles right now, what’s not to like about that scenario unfolding?

Perhaps being compared to Rajon Rondo isn’t so bad after all.

Next: 25 Best Players to Play for the Orlando Magic

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