To learn more about New Orleans free-agent signee – and Crescent City native – Elfrid Payton, we caught up with OrlandoMagic.com writer Dan Savage. Savage covered Payton during the point guard’s three-plus seasons with Orlando. Payton spent the final portion of last season with Phoenix, following a trade-deadline deal:
Pelicans.com: A chunk of Pelicans fans are already familiar with Payton for obvious reasons – he is a Crescent City native and was an in-state standout collegiate guard. For those who may not know a lot about him, what is he like personality-wise? On the surface, it seems like many casual hoops fans also know him mostly for his unique haircut.
Savage: E.P. is a laidback guy. It’s part of what makes him valuable as a point guard. You rarely – if ever – see him get rattled on the basketball court. He’s usually cool, calm and collected.
Pelicans.com: How frequently did he make reference to his New Orleans roots during his tenure in Orlando? Apparently he is also an avid Saints fan.
Savage: Oh yeah, E.P. definitely loves his home city. After all, he does have the old “Fleur de Bee” tattoo on his right shoulder. Even during his time with the Magic, Payton would take trips back to Gretna to give back to his hometown. Later this month, he’ll host his second annual Charity “Glow” kickball tournament with some of his former teammates and celebrities with New Orleans ties. I was fortunate enough to travel with him back to his high school during the 2017 All-Star Weekend as his jersey was retired at John Ehret High School, so I was able to see the passion and hear some of his childhood stories firsthand. As for the Saints, he’s an avid supporter. Each season on OrlandoMagic.com, we have players select who they think will win the Super Bowl. I believe Payton’s picked them every single time.
Pelicans.com: Payton is the Orlando franchise leader in triple-doubles and had some outstanding stretches with the Magic. He started 234 games there over just three-plus seasons. How did it so quickly seem to go from him being a big part of the future to out of the team’s plans?
Savage: There were without a doubt some high points during his Magic tenure. During his rookie campaign, there were a number of people around the league who thought he should be considered for Rookie of the Year. However, Payton was unable to take the next step in his development in Orlando. The team looked more offensively fluid in certain stages last season with D.J. Augustin – a more capable 3-point threat – running the show and Augustin’s presence on the floor created better spacing for his teammates. When it came down to the trade deadline, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman ultimately thought it was best for the team and Payton – who was in a contract year – to part ways at that time and get something in return for Orlando.
Pelicans.com: He’s had numerous high-assist games in his career and is known as an excellent passer. How might his skills fit into an up-tempo system like the one run by New Orleans and Alvin Gentry?
Savage: In order for Payton to be successful at this stage of his career and development, he needs to play in an up-tempo system. He’s at his best in transition when surrounded by shooters and lob threats as he’s fully capable of pushing the pace and then either using his size and vision to deliver the ball to shooters, setting up others for alley oops or slashing through the lane and finishing at the rim.
Prior to last season, OrlandoMagic.com looked back at the chemistry between Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton during the 2016-17 season. Gordon shot 127-of-237 from the field (53.6 percent) and had a 58.4 effective field goal percentage when the pass before the shot attempt came from Payton (95 of those made shots counted as assists for E.P.).
Here’s how that compared to other notable tandems around the league during that same timeframe:
Bradley Beal from John Wall: 48.6 percent (58.3 effective FG%)
Kevin Durant from Stephen Curry: 50.4 percent (57.7 effective FG%) Kevin Love from LeBron James: 45.1 percent (56.3 effective FG%)
Anthony Davis from Jrue Holiday: 50.9 percent (52.7 effective FG%)
Blake Griffin from Chris Paul: 49.1 percent (51.7 effective FG%) DeMar DeRozan from Kyle Lowry: 49.4 percent (50.3 effective FG%)
Of the 127 Payton to Gordon made shots, 40 were dunks and many of those came from alley-oop tosses. I’m sure New Orleans looked at some of those statistics and will attempt to generate a similar on-court relationship between Payton and Davis.
Pelicans.com: Payton is known as a below-average shooter, as evidenced by a 29.8 percentage from three-point range, but his accuracy from the field has actually increased in every year of his career, topped by 49.3 last season. Why has his success rate inside the arc seemed to consistently improve?
Savage: While he’s still not a threat from outside the arc, he’s improved as a decision maker. Payton is extremely calculated when determining when to drive to the basket, thus making him more efficient and improving his overall percentages. Over the course of his career, he’s also developed a better floater that’s given him another tool in his driving arsenal.
Pelicans.com: Are there any aspects of his game that still have upside, or areas he wasn’t fully capable of showing based on the role he filled with the Magic?
Savage: We all know he’s a triple-double threat on any given night, but in my opinion, there are two areas of Payton’s development which will determine his long-term success in this league.
First is his outside shot. While he’ll likely never become a deadly outside threat, if he can get defenders to play closer to him on the perimeter, he’ll be able to generate better spacing for his teammates and create improved driving lanes for himself.
Second is defense. While Payton can dominate defensively in stretches and can create turnovers that lead to transition buckets, he needs to continue to improve in fighting over screens and contesting 3-point shots. If he can develop in those areas of his game, he can become a dangerous weapon for New Orleans.
Pelicans.com: What’s one thing we might be surprised to know about Payton?
Savage: Just one thing, that’s going to be tough. E.P. has always been one of my favorite guys to work with in the NBA, so I’m going to go with three.
1) He's always been enamored with Sour Patch Kids and shared his love for the candy publicly. So much so, that Sour Patch Kids has actually sent him a gift on his birthday the last few years.
2) He’s actively engaged in giving back to the community. Payton was the recipient of the Magic’s 2017 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award, which goes to the player who’s made the biggest difference in the Central Florida community over the past year.
3) Payton and I share a love for the New Orleans-based groups, the Hot Boys and the Big Tymers. If he knew I was doing in this interview, he would expect me to mention that.