Chicago Bulls: Cameron Payne flashing signs of potential
After a poor showing in limited action last season, Chicago Bulls point guard Cameron Payne has been playing well since his returning following the All-Star break.
When the Chicago Bulls acquired Cameron Payne in a trade that sent Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to the Oklahoma City Thunder last February, it appeared the front office had committed another blunder.
With Rajon Rondo running the show, combined with the fact the Bulls were making a late-season push towards the playoffs, Payne’s role was limited to just 11 games. In those 11 games, his averages included 4.9 points and 1.4 assists per game on 33.3 percent shooting from the floor and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Given the circumstances, most Bulls fans gave this move a pass, initially. However, when Payne had another poor showing in two Summer League appearances (9-for-26 shooting and seven turnovers) and was sidelined for several months following foot surgery, he definitely seemed like the forgotten man in Fred Hoiberg’s offense.
Considering how well Kris Dunn has performed on the heels of disappointing rookie season, and that Jerian Grant has played reasonably well at the backup spot, it would’ve been safe to presume that Payne would have his work cut out for him in terms of carving out a niche in the rotation.
Following the All-Star break, however, the Bulls announced they were going to field different lineups the rest of the way in an effort to get at an extended look at players who did not play significant minutes early in the season.
In light of these lineup changes, the question was, could Payne produce in a larger role after missing a good chunk of each of the last two seasons?
Surprisingly, Payne hasn’t been all that bad.
Through the first five games of his 2017-18 season, his level of play was somewhat sporadic. He averaged six points per contest on 36.8 percent shooting, including an atrocious 14.3 percent effort from 3-point range.
Looking at those stats, it looked as if Payne was going to play himself right out of the rotation. Fortunately, that trend has improved over his last six outings. During that stretch, Payne has reached double figures three times, including an impressive 17-point outing against the Detroit Pistons on March 9.
Additionally, Payne is averaging 9.8 points, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per contest. It should also be noted that Payne is shooting 48.9 percent from the field overall, and get this: He has connected on 10 of his last 19 attempts from 3-point land (52.6 percent).
That’s not too bad for a guy who’s shot the long ball at a 32 percent clip during his first three seasons in the league. As one would expect, Payne is playing with a lot of confidence right now compared to last season — something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by his head coach.
"“I really like what I’ve seen out of Cam these last couple of weeks,” Hoiberg told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Just to see him with a little bounce in his step, it’s been fun. Hopefully he can keep growing and getting better and finish strong.”"
When the Bulls rolled out the idea of using various lineups down the stretch, the main objectives for Payne were to play with speed and run the offense effectively while keeping turnovers to a minimum.
Being that his shooting numbers have improved, he plays with the kind of pace that Hoiberg desires, and the fact he’s averaging less than one turnover per outing, it is safe to say that Payne is checking all the boxes at this point.
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Whether he can sustain this level of play down the stretch remains to be seen. What is a certainty is that Cameron Payne has gone from being an afterthought to a guy that could potentially warrant a larger role going into the next season.