Orlando Magic: Their All-decade least liked starting five

Point guard – Elfrid Payton

If it seems strange to put the Magic’s all-time leader in triple-doubles (eight) and the owner of the seventh-most assists in franchise history on this list, then you didn’t watch enough of Elfrid Payton when he was running the floor for the Magic. He spent three-and-a-half seasons in Orlando from 2014 to early 2018, and in the two years since has played for three other teams.

Payton’s problem was that he came to represent how stuck in the past the Magic were. At a time when the 3-point boom was really taking off, they drafted a point guard who could not shoot consistently from deep (30.5 percent during his time with the Magic, although in two of his full seasons there he shot under 28 percent).

We’ve already seen how cramped the rest of the roster was through much of Payton’s time with the team, meaning that the fact he could not shoot the ball comfortably was highlighted even more because they needed somebody to create space on the court for others. Payton was most certainly not that guy.

The Rajon Rondo comparisons were obvious, but consistency was where Payton really struggled. He would go through periods where he looked like one of the better players in the rotation, before following that up with terrible shooting performances and largely anonymous games. Defensively he was usually solid though.

Really then Payton is on this list because he embodies everything that was wrong with the Magic during their rebuild under former General Manage Rob Hennigan. Never bad enough to get the first overall pick, but the lottery picks that they did take (Payton, Oladipo, Hezonja) weren’t good enough to accelerate their progress.

The fact the Magic traded for Payton, giving up Dario Saric in the process, doesn’t help either. Saric has hardly gone on to be a star, but it is interesting to think about how he could have helped the Magic. They quickly found solutions to their point guard issue as well, with D.J. Augustin and Markelle Fultz a better combo than Payton ever was with anybody. Who better to run the show for this band of misfits?