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Payton Reflects Back on Wild Draft Night

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

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By John DentonOct. 18, 2014

Allentown, PA -- Tucked away in his Orlando apartment, rookie point guard Elfrid Payton still has the red, white and blue Philadelphia 76ers hat that he awkwardly placed over his floppy hair seconds after being picked 10th in last June’s NBA Draft.

The hat is a reminder to Payton of just how quickly things can change in the NBA.

Payton was a member of the 76ers for about 15 minutes last June before he was told that he was about to be traded. Fortunately, he said, he was dealt to an Orlando Magic squad that had scouted him extensively and desperately wanted him as their point guard of the future.

Payton said that it’s still somewhat surreal to look at the Sixers hat and think about how his NBA fortunes might have been different. He said he didn’t think once about Philadelphia already having point guard Michael Carter-Williams – last season’s Rookie of the Year – when his name and the Sixers were called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

``Nahh, none of that ever crossed my mind. I just wanted to play. That was my whole thing – being able to get out there on the court and play – and I really didn’t care about who was already there or in front of me,’’ said Payton, whose Magic faced the 76ers in Allentown, Pa. on Saturday in preseason action. ``It’s a little bit (weird looking at the hat), but it’s good for memories, too.’’

Payton said he went about 15 minutes between getting selected by the Sixers and being informed that he was being traded to Orlando for forward Dario Saric and a conditional first-round draft pick. Payton was actually doing interviews with the Philadelphia media – and wearing the Sixers hat – when a NBA PR person pulled him to a back room to inform him that he was being traded to Orlando.

Payton, who has averaged 7.2 points, 6 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in the first five preseason games, said he considers himself fortunate to be in Orlando with the Magic because of the youth on the roster and the chance to earn big minutes at the point guard position as a rookie.

``I’ve looked at it as a blessing that I was able to come into this team and play a lot early,’’ said Payton, who added that he enjoys playing for Magic coach Jacque Vaughn, who was a NBA point guard for 12 seasons. ``There are so many young guys on this team like me and we’re all kind of going through the same things and at the same stage in our life. It definitely makes the transition to the NBA easier when there are people that you can relate to. But the vets on this team are great, too. They’ve all helped me adjust.’’

GO STRONG OR GO HOME: All his life, 6-foot-9, 235-pound Aaron Gordon has been the biggest and baddest athlete on the floor and he could usually use his God-given gifts to win any one-on-one battle. But he’s had to quickly learn in the NBA that on every team there are athletes just as good as him.

Gordon said that if the first five preseason games of his professional career have taught him anything it’s that he can’t play finesse basketball and expect to get away with it in the NBA. He had the first shot of his pro career blocked in Miami two weeks ago, and he encountered trouble in Charlotte last week when long-armed centers Al Jefferson and Bismarck Biyumbo stuffed shot attempts.

Gordon, who is the youngest player in the NBA at 19 years old but is a quick learner, made the adjustments and in the past two games he’s gone up with authority when driving to the rim. He used his 44-inch vertical leap for soaring dunks against Flamengo and the Detroit Pistons. And his most impressive play might have come Friday when he snagged a tough rebound in traffic and rose up for a thunderous two-handed dunk.

``I’ve found out that I can’t do that tip stuff in this league and get away with it,’’ Gordon said with a chuckle.’’

Gordon, who averaged 10 points and seven rebounds in the first five preseason games (three of them as a starter), said that he feels he can be a big0time contributor to the Magic this season by merely using his hustle and muscle to make up for his lack of experience.

``It’s almost like a totally different game than college because everything is much more open and fluid. There are some things that you can get away with and some that you’re just not going to get away with,’’ Gordon said. ``All I can do is (play hard). I don’t have four years experience under my belt, but the fact that I can go hard and push myself, that’s all that I can control. I want to play hard and have fun and do the best that I can for as long as I possibly can.’’

DEFENSE FIRST: Magic coach Jacque Vaughn opened the first practice of training camp with a series of defensive drills, and that pattern has repeated itself many times throughout this exhibition season. Vaughn’s mission was to reinforce to his team on a daily occurrence the importance of playing defense.

Orlando was 26th in the NBA in defensive efficiency two years ago and jumped up to a tie for 17th in that category last season. The hope this season is that with Orlando’s athleticism and bevy of players who have a defense-first mentality that the squad can be a top 10 defensive unit.

The Magic seem to have gotten the point about defense, holding foes to 39.7 percent shooting in the first five preseason games. Opponents have been even worse from 3-point range – 24.8 percent – because of the Magic’s quickness in closing out to shooters and their aggressive pressure on the ball.

Vaughn certainly likes what he’s seen so far. And the hopes that the Magic can be even better when they get heady defenders Victor Oladipo (sprained MCL) and Channing Frye (sprained MCL) back from injury

``We’re growing and we’re getting there, but we still have a long way to go,’’ Vaughn said. ``I think these first few games have shown us an indication of how we can be successful if we defend. We’ve also seen the commitment that it takes on a nightly basis on the defensive end of the floor. If we do that every night – both at home and on the road – it gives us a chance.’’

ETC: Payton was the victim of a hilarious rookie prank last Wednesday when teammates asked him to lead them out onto the floor for warm-ups. The problem was, however, that Payton ran onto the floor without looking behind him and the rest of the team purposefully stayed behind in the locker room, leaving Payton on the floor solo for about 10 seconds. Said the rookie point guard: ``It was pretty cool. That was kind of the first real prank that they’ve pulled on me and I thought it was really funny. I looked back and nobody was there and I was like, `Well, I’ll just use this time to work on my game. I’m the only one out here (on the floor), so I figured I could get all of the shots up.’’ … As expected, the Magic rested team leaders Nikola Vucevic and Tobias Harris in Saturday’s second game in as many nights. The two fourth-year players have been Orlando’s most consistent producers this preseason and are also nursing minor injuries. Harris, who has averaged 16.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 57.4 percent, still has a sore chest from a hard fall last Wednesday against Brazil’s Flamengo. Vucevic, who has averaged 15.2 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 54 percent, has been nursing a swollen finger on his right hand the past week. … The Magic will hold an open practice for fans on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Amway Center. Tickets are free, but must be downloaded at OrlandoMagic.com. Orlando will close the preseason with home games on Wednesday (against Dwight Howard and Houston) and on Friday (against Dallas and Jameer Nelson).