Orlando Magic: How Good Has Elfrid Payton Been?

Despite some rough nights recently, especially out West, it is still all about the exciting future for the Orlando Magic. One player who the team hopes will be a key part of what they do in the future is rookie point guard Elfrid Payton.

Already he is the team’s starting point guard and in some ways thrown in at the deep end in that he has had to learn to control a professional team on the fly. He’s taken it in his stride though, and so far on the surface appears to be one of the better rookies in the much heralded class of 2014. But how good has he really been for this team?

It says a lot about Payton that a lot of experts felt the Magic were getting a potential steal when they acquired his rights from the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night. Indeed, The Sports Guy himself even predicted before the season started that Payton would be the Rookie of the Year.

So with considerable hype heading into the year, especially when you consider the other talent in that draft class, there was immediate interest in how Payton’s unique game would translate to the pros.

As with most young guys, it was more of a stuttering start that not everybody saw coming, but that everybody should have expected. Immediately it was clear this guy couldn’t shoot, and that he would be a pass-first point guard.

Understandable, every player has their strengths and weaknesses. Here’s the worry, though–we’re in to 2015 and those shooting woes still show no sign of letting up.

Most players have their sweet spots on the court, and right now Payton doesn’t even have one. Even if it was the ill-advised long two-point effort that he was able to knock down with any sort of consistency, that would be something. To date, he’s shooting a ghastly 40 percent from the field.

Three-point game? Forget about it. He’s attempted a just shy of 20 long balls, and four of them actually have gone in, believe it or not. But I’m not taking his 21 percent three-point shooting seriously as a number because it’s not his game, those efforts have either been a result of bad communication or a broken possession.

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Even worse though, he’s shooting 49 percent from the line. That’s just less than one in every two shots going in. These are essentially free points if you can take them, and Payton really should be taking them because he’s not scoring in a multitude of other ways. He can get to the basket from time to time, his long body allows him to do that.

However he can’t finish around them rim, another factor in his poor shooting percentages. Getting harmed on his way there is a good way to tack on some points, but he’s not doing that. Simply put, his shooting needs to improve, and pretty soon as well.

That’s not to say it’s been all bad for Payton however. There’s a reason so many people tipped him for big things after all. Yes the shooting is the red flag, but even then there is reason for optimism. In an early November game he scored 16 points and shot 50 percent from the field against a very good Toronto Raptors team.

Payton got in a groove, and the hope is that it’s a sign of things to come. Ultimately though, it’s kind of a relief to know that he is capable of having a shooting night like this, and the hope is that it will become a more regular part of his game as time goes on.

Even better, Payton seems to do pretty much everything else on the court really well for a rookie. The comparisons to Rajon Rondo have been plentiful, and in some ways it creates unnecessary pressure for a young guy when people do this. But the similarities are too strong to ignore.

Both have an eye for the spectacular pass, both shoot as a last resort and both are defensive terriers for their teams. For Payton, the danger is defenses will sag off him because he can’t and won’t shoot, it’s already happening, which in turn makes the passing lanes harder to get through.

So far though, like Rondo, it doesn’t matter. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s much better to have this guy on your team going forward, his upside appears to be great. So even though defenses already know what to expect with him, he reads the game so well that it hasn’t hurt his game.

He’s eighth among rookies in rebounds (3.6) and unsurprisingly leads his class in assists at 5.3 a game (the next best is Minnesota Timerwoles guard Zach LaVine with 3.7). None of this is a surprise, but being ninth among rookies in scoring (6.7) kind of is. Take that with a pinch of salt though, as this class has been hit badly by the injury bug.

Earlier this year, I would have called him the Rookie of the Year leader. He was playing well, positively influencing the team and staying on the floor at crunch time. The Magic were hovering around eighth spot in the East and as mentioned other rookies were dropping like flies.

Then Andrew Wiggins began to put some solid games together for Minnesota, and he deservedly took the lead. Still though, I’m thrilled he is a Magic player, he’s everything I thought he’d be, and more. He’s also everything I knew he wouldn’t be, and it would be great if he could figure out even how to hit free throws more consistently.

So from a personal standpoint, I’m more than happy with how he’s been this season. This was a guy who didn’t get much national attention, at least not immediately coming out of high school and in his early college days, and he’s adjusted to the pros quickly. He’s cool, calm and collected, and knows what he can and can’t do on the court.

He won’t win Rookie of the Year, but he’s going to continue to get better for this team.

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