JULY 24: Payne’s deal with Toronto is now official, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors.
JULY 17: The Raptors have reached an agreement with Cameron Payne, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the free agent point guard is signing a two-year contract with Toronto.
Payne’s new deal won’t be fully guaranteed. According to Charania (via Twitter), the former lottery pick will get a partial guarantee in year one and will have an opportunity to compete for a reserve point guard spot with the Raptors.
Payne, who turns 25 next month, was the 14th overall pick in the 2015 draft. However, he has bounced around the league since then, having spent time with the Thunder, Bulls, and Cavaliers in his first four NBA seasons.
In 153 total regular season games, the former Murray State standout has averaged 6.0 PPG and 2.5 APG with a .397/.331/.775 shooting line. He did have a strong Summer League showing in Las Vegas this month though, recording 20.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, and 2.7 SPG while shooting 51.4% from the floor in three games for Dallas.
Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet figure to handle point guard duties for the Raptors in 2019/20, but after trading Delon Wright at last season’s deadline and not re-signing Jeremy Lin in free agency, the team doesn’t have a ton of depth at the position. That lack of depth – and a partially guaranteed contract – should give Payne the upper hand in earning one of Toronto’s last few roster spots.
Payne is 25 years old and has been a professional basketball player in the NBA for 4 seasons. I hope he would be putting up those kind of numbers in Summer League vs (predominantly) rookies fresh out of college.
perfect kawhi replacement
Maybe they make sense for JR Smith? Vince Carter makes more sense, but I could see JR Smith actually fitting
Ujiri must rather their third PG be smart instead of some future prospect.