The Elfrid Payton Thread

[Mulhollanddrive]

First 7 games - 17 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds on 51% FG
Last 7 games - 9 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds on 40% FG

Which is the problem with using samples like that as Payton is not as good or bad. What doesn't change is what he fundamentally is as a player - good passer, bad defense, bad shooting and the numbers will reflect that long term.

[lilfishi22]

I'm off the Elf train. He doesn't play with any creativity or enthusiasm.

[Bogyo]

Triano threw him under the bus in his presser after the game - rightfully so.
I've always hated that hair thing. Even if it does not affect his game - which I strongly doubt - it's just soooo stupid that I don't really trust him on anything else. Oh well, it was a good trade, like a free trial at a relatively young PG, which we needed.

[lilfishi22]

Triano threw him under the bus in his presser after the game - rightfully so.
I've always hated that hair thing. Even if it does not affect his game - which I strongly doubt - it's just soooo stupid that I don't really trust him on anything else. Oh well, it was a good trade, like a free trial at a relatively young PG, which we needed.

Quick summary of what was said?

[OrlandoDream]

I see the honeymoon period is over lol. At least it didn't take you guys 3 and HALF years to figure out Payton is not an NBA rotational PG. I'm also curious to see what he was called out on in the interview. Vogel used to throw shades at him for not trying on defense and not fighting through the pick and roll. I swear, that dead thing on his head prevents him from executing the minimal pick and roll defense. EP is just not good. At least you found that out early.

[MagicStarwipe]

Elfrid has been bad lately. Not sure what's going on, but this isn't normal for him.

[bwgood77]

I see the honeymoon period is over lol. At least it didn't take you guys 3 and HALF years to figure out Payton is not an NBA rotational PG. I'm also curious to see what he was called out on in the interview. Vogel used to throw shades at him for not trying on defense and not fighting through the pick and roll. I swear, that dead thing on his head prevents him from executing the minimal pick and roll defense. EP is just not good. At least you found that out early.

Hopefully our GM has determined that as well. I mean he did give Brandon Knight a 5 year, $70 million contract.

[Saberestar]

Elfrid has been bad lately. Not sure what's going on, but this isn't normal for him.

Yeah, I don't know if something it's going on behind the scenes.

[Bogyo]

Triano threw him under the bus in his presser after the game - rightfully so.
I've always hated that hair thing. Even if it does not affect his game - which I strongly doubt - it's just soooo stupid that I don't really trust him on anything else. Oh well, it was a good trade, like a free trial at a relatively young PG, which we needed.

Quick summary of what was said?

That he missed 2 defensive assignments in a row (and made another mistake quicly afterwards) that's why he got benched. And that they are not picking on him, just trying to hold everybody accountable, and others got pulled for same kind of stuff.

[Saberestar]

Elfrid Payton wants to play for the Suns next season. He likes his teammates, he likes the city and he believes Phoenix will be a winner soon.

“I think they have a chance to be really good, especially in the near future,” he said. “So I would love to be here".

The Suns may not be so invested in Payton, though. Fifteen games into what is essentially a tryout for the fourth-year point guard, it’s unclear whether Phoenix will try to match any offer Payton will receive as a restricted free agent this summer.

The Suns could match an offer or rescind his rights and use his $10 million cap hold figure in free agency.

Payton’s overall numbers with the Suns look good: 13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. He’s had five double-doubles, two triple-doubles and he’s brought some stability to a position that was in flux much of the season.

But a deeper dive reflects the uncertainty about Payton. In his first nine games with Phoenix, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.6 assists and 8.0 rebounds while playing 34.8 minutes per game. In the next six games entering Tuesday's home game against the Detroit Pistons, he averaged 9.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 24.7 minutes.

The reduced playing time clearly has had an impact on Payton’s numbers, but interim coach Jay Triano hasn’t cut Payton’s minutes just so he can get a longer look at Shaq Harrison. Payton’s struggles on both ends of the floor have led to his diminished role.

Payton’s defensive rating of 115.8 is the worst of his career and more than two points higher than it was in Orlando earlier this season.

“Just OK,” Triano said when asked about Payton’s defense. “He knows that’s an area he has to get better at.”

Offensively, Payton’s reluctance to take 3-pointers (1.4 per contest) and inability to make them (23.8 percent) has hamstrung the Suns. When Phoenix played Cleveland last Tuesday, LeBron James didn’t get the defensive assignment on Devin Booker, T.J. Warren or Josh Jackson. Instead, the Cavaliers stuck James on Payton, and James positioned himself at the free-throw line, daring Payton to shoot while clogging up the passing lanes.

“It takes away from guys on our team that are the slashers and cutters because it makes it a little more crowded inside,” Triano said. “But we keep telling him to be aggressive. When he goes to the basket his shooting percentage is very high at the rim (67.8 percent). We want him to get to the rim.”

https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2018/03/20/phoenix-suns-elfrid-payton-devin-booker-jay-triano-collin-sexton/443368002/

[Mauro Pedrosa]

I see the honeymoon period is over lol. At least it didn't take you guys 3 and HALF years to figure out Payton is not an NBA rotational PG. I'm also curious to see what he was called out on in the interview. Vogel used to throw shades at him for not trying on defense and not fighting through the pick and roll. I swear, that dead thing on his head prevents him from executing the minimal pick and roll defense. EP is just not good. At least you found that out early.

I've never been an EP fan, but I think he can be a good/decent backup PG

[lilfishi22]

Regarding Payton's defense, it's *never* been good and playing with the worst defensive team in the league has made it worst so I'll defend him a little here. I still think on a confident defense team, he'd be an average defender because he clearly has the tools but we're just not even close to even a poor defensive team I don't think we can put this criticism entirely on him. It's fine to say he's a below average man defender but what is our defensive philosophy? What is our defensive schemes? Do we have an identity on that end of the court?

Depending on how we go in the draft and in free agency, I'm fine with him as a starting PG as a band aid option until something really good comes along and then he'll just be a fantastic backup PG.

[NTB]

Regarding Payton's defense, it's *never* been good and playing with the worst defensive team in the league has made it worst so I'll defend him a little here. I still think on a confident defense team, he'd be an average defender because he clearly has the tools but we're just not even close to even a poor defensive team I don't think we can put this criticism entirely on him. It's fine to say he's a below average man defender but what is our defensive philosophy? What is our defensive schemes? Do we have an identity on that end of the court?

Depending on how we go in the draft and in free agency, I'm fine with him as a starting PG as a band aid option until something really good comes along and then he'll just be a fantastic backup PG.

Even though i somewhat agree with you, how is Shaq looking like a really good defender then?

[lilfishi22]

Regarding Payton's defense, it's *never* been good and playing with the worst defensive team in the league has made it worst so I'll defend him a little here. I still think on a confident defense team, he'd be an average defender because he clearly has the tools but we're just not even close to even a poor defensive team I don't think we can put this criticism entirely on him. It's fine to say he's a below average man defender but what is our defensive philosophy? What is our defensive schemes? Do we have an identity on that end of the court?

Depending on how we go in the draft and in free agency, I'm fine with him as a starting PG as a band aid option until something really good comes along and then he'll just be a fantastic backup PG.

Even though i somewhat agree with you, how is Shaq looking like a really good defender then?

Roles. Shaq's primary focus is still energy and defense. When you play with energy with a lot of movement, opportunities open up and that's how he gets those few rebounds, assists ans points. Even Lebron looks poor on defense now that his entire focus is making his team go offensively. Expectations and focus for Payton is far wider. If you think Payton has been disappointing, starting Shaq full time would be a new level of frustration.

[NTB]

Regarding Payton's defense, it's *never* been good and playing with the worst defensive team in the league has made it worst so I'll defend him a little here. I still think on a confident defense team, he'd be an average defender because he clearly has the tools but we're just not even close to even a poor defensive team I don't think we can put this criticism entirely on him. It's fine to say he's a below average man defender but what is our defensive philosophy? What is our defensive schemes? Do we have an identity on that end of the court?

Depending on how we go in the draft and in free agency, I'm fine with him as a starting PG as a band aid option until something really good comes along and then he'll just be a fantastic backup PG.

Even though i somewhat agree with you, how is Shaq looking like a really good defender then?

Roles. Shaq's primary focus is still energy and defense. When you play with energy with a lot of movement, opportunities open up and that's how he gets those few rebounds, assists ans points. Even Lebron looks poor on defense now that his entire focus is making his team go offensively. Expectations and focus for Payton is far wider. If you think Payton has been disappointing, starting Shaq full time would be a new level of frustration.

At this point, Payton doesn't even provide good offense so it would be better if he could focus on defense like Shaq.

[lilfishi22]

Even though i somewhat agree with you, how is Shaq looking like a really good defender then?

Roles. Shaq's primary focus is still energy and defense. When you play with energy with a lot of movement, opportunities open up and that's how he gets those few rebounds, assists ans points. Even Lebron looks poor on defense now that his entire focus is making his team go offensively. Expectations and focus for Payton is far wider. If you think Payton has been disappointing, starting Shaq full time would be a new level of frustration.

At this point, Payton doesn't even provide good offense so it would be better if he could focus on defense like Shaq.

You're probably right

[Revived]

I wish we can see Payton play at least 3-4 games with the Suns with that stupid thing off his head.

Can the Suns please force him to cut it off before season ends? Or maybe the rookies or sophomores pull a prank and cut it off while he's asleep on the team plane or something? Would love for Chriss to volunteer and do it himself as it would easily be the most he's ever contributed to the Suns since getting drafted.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

I wish we can see Payton play at least 3-4 games with the Suns with that stupid thing off his head.

Can the Suns please force him to cut it off before season ends? Or maybe the rookies or sophomores pull a prank and cut it off while he's asleep on the team plane or something? Would love for Chriss to volunteer and do it himself as it would easily be the most he's ever contributed to the Suns since getting drafted.

That’s part of the contract you must cut that MF’ing Mop. Magic fans got sick of it and looks like Suns fans are following.

Dude is going to get a low ball deal and be forced to take it come FA.

[sunskerr]

Cant shoot

Cant defend

Cant be a starter next year

[GSWNation20]

Hhaha this is your point guard of the future? He couldn't even stick on an awful Magic team and you took their scraps as your franchise pg lolololol. This is hilarious.