Post#1491 » by Kerrsed » Fri Dec 9, 2016 8:29 am
To me, Elfrid Payton reminds me a lot of a young Rajon Rondo. Now i dont think Payton has had quite the opportunity Rondo had as early in the league, but there are some striking similarities. Both are pretty bad shooters, even though they have a high FG% (Due to their work in the paint), but cant hit a jumper/3pointer/Free Throw to save their life. This forces them to become more of a pass first PG, a distributor, while also being rather good at rebounding and defense.
Granted the stats show that at this age Rondo was already a much better distributor and defender, but like i was saying, Rondo had a step up on Payton by playing next to Paul Pierce in his prime. Orlando doesnt have anybody of that caliber on their roster that can compare to Pierce when it comes to finishing.
For all the crap that Rondo got and still gets, i have always been a fan of his. Sure people want to spout off how they desperately want another pass first PG like Nash, but fail to realize that Nash was a once in a lifetime player and there is a reason he won those 2 MVP's. Truth is, finding a pass-first PG that can also shoot lights out is a rarity. I mean Curry and Westbrook might lead the league in assists and be shooters, but they are not a pass first PG in the vain of a Steve Nash.
In this league, besides getting lucky in the draft and finding a Curry or Westbrook, PG's that can do pretty much everything, you are stuck between choosing going after either a good defensive pass first PG that cant shoot, or a shoot first heroball PG that gives up just as many points on the defensive end. Ok, actually there is a 3rd type of PG out there as well, the pass first PG that cant shoot and cant defend, but we all know how that works (Im looking at you Kendall Marshall and Tyler Ennis).
Im ok with adding a PG like Payton to the team. Most Championship teams dont have a crazy-good-at-everything PG. Besides Irving in Cleveland, you had guys like Tony Parker with the Spurs, Chalmers with the Heat, Rondo with the Celtics, Fisher with the Lakers, and a way way past his prime Kidd with the Mavs. Pretty much to me, the kind of PG your team needs depends on who your best player is and what position they play. Parker/Rondo/Kidd were defensive pass first types, as they needed to be, since their teams best players were usually bigs with no ballhandling. Fisher was great for the Lakers as the ball was in Kobes hands for him to choose what to do, meaning they needed more of a shooting PG. Same goes for Lebron in Cleveland with Chalmers.
Now towards the beginning of the season i made a statement that i would like to see Booker spend some time at the point and have control over the ball. I thought he might be able to excel there and we could have a Wade situation where the ballhandler is actually our SG, but from what i have seen, thats not going to work out. I had very very high hopes for Bledsoe, that he could live up to his nickname of Mini-Lebron and be one of those do all players, but something has really changed this season, as he isnt getting nearly the amount of assists as he has in the past, which leads me to believe that he wasnt necessarily the reason he was getting a high amount of assists, but rather the players around him was. Where Nash's assists here high due to the fact that he made all of his teammates better, Bledsoes is starting to look like his teammates making their shots were making him look better.
So i believe grabbing a defensive pass first PG like Payton might end up being beneficial to our team. For all those that keep clamoring about Ulis, then you should be ecstatic about the idea of Payton in a Suns jersey. Same kind of player, but with an extra 6 inches on him and better defense.
TL;DR - I would be fine with a trade for Payton (depending on who's all involved). A better defender/distributor might be what we really need.
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