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No, this isn't a ten year old thread. Elfrid Payton is back in the NBA and set the mark for most assists in a game this season last night, beating Trae Young's mark of 19 on 11/18. If this holds all season, this is going to be one heck of a trivia question in the future lol

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/most-assists-in-a-game-this-season-by-a-player-nba

I've seen this movie before.

Ngl I clicked to see what kind of wacky hairstyle he got this time around

Crazy, dude hasn't played in the NBA since 2022, gets signed by the Pels and drops 21 assists.

No idea why he couldn't get a contract. He is a decent backup PG. Can't score or shoot that well but he can run the point well.

Who ?

Looks like 16 was his previous career high, during his first stint with the Pels.

Dubious Handles wrote:Ngl I clicked to see what kind of wacky hairstyle he got this time around

Disappointingly normal

KokoKaizer wrote:Who ?

Was he that bad that you tried to forgot that he existed? Because I feel the same way about this one guy......I forgot his name already but his nickname was J-Smooth and he was anything but smooth.

Wallace_Wallace wrote:

KokoKaizer wrote:Who ?

Was he that bad that you tried to forgot that he existed? Because I feel the same way about this one guy......I forgot his name already but his nickname was J-Smooth and he was anything but smooth.

We (Magic fans) had a lot of hopes for him back in the day, that's all

Not a bad guy at all but you know... a disapointment

Honestly, this just goes to show you how much basketball talent exists these days and how much 3-pt shooting is valued (or maybe over-valued) by NBA GMs. Payton was a high draft pick, with great size and defense for the PG spot. He can do everything, except shoot.

I think this is a combination of no one guarding Elfrid and he wanted to show out. Some passes were really nice but he had a lot of room to operate, very little scouting was done on him it looks like. Some Pacer players might've thought he was JAG.

Seemed like a magical game for Payton's sake because nearly every pass to teammates led to made buckets or and-1s and his shot kept going in, which is pretty much the opposite of the bulk of Payton's career thus far lol

Saw him with NYK for a few seasons, was painful to watch him. He works hard and gives 100% but he just wasn't very good. Surprising he's still in the NBA.

Outliers happen. Look up Ramon Sessions' career high in assists

Still an impressive feat

Waiting for Markelle Fultz to pop up back in the league and do the same thing

I remember him going in the top 10, but it doesn't feel like 10 years ago

This reminds me of another guard who flamed out, in case anyone is interested in his story:

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/michael-carter-williams-nba-basketball

Being away from the game has helped him but the season is long. He's 30 years old now so maybe he can be a solid veteran player for years to come.



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Clincher wrote:Saw him with NYK for a few seasons, was painful to watch him. He works hard and gives 100% but he just wasn't very good. Surprising he's still in the NBA.

We played him way too many minutes and he had too big of a role. He is more of a 10-15 minutes bench guy ideally. He is a pretty bad scorer/shooter but as a bench player he is fine.

Reminds me of jose calderon who had a lot of 15+ assist games but otherwise was a compete average role player