The Chicago Bulls NEED Cameron Payne
Almost every Chicago Bulls fan had the same reaction when the beloved franchise traded long-tenured Taj Gibson and former first round pick Doug McDermott to Oklahoma City for Anthony Morrow, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Cameron Payne:
"......What?"
But after the initial pain of the trade subsided a bit, I started to wonder what was the ceiling (in terms of development) was for Payne, seeing as he was a 22-year point guard who has averaged just over 13 minutes a game in his career.
The Bulls have used Payne so far just as often as the Thunder did, which is hardly ever. And he has yet to start a game despite Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg choosing a different guard to start at point seemingly every game.
As of now I work from time to time with the Illinois Media School broadcasting games of the Windy City Bulls--the Chicago Bulls NBA D-League affiliate--at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. And when I heard that Hoiberg and co. had decided to send Payne down to the D-League to get some extended minutes I was obviously super excited to get a court-side look at Payne in action as a starter.
After watching the Windy City Bulls beat the Westchester Knicks 124-116, I came to a crazy-sounding, yet completely sane conclusion.
The Chicago Bulls NEED Cameron Payne.
Now before calling me a jackass, consider these three facts:
1. Payne is 22 years old.
2. He has a huuuuuge chip on his shoulder that dates back to being under-recruited out of high school.
3. His versatility as a scorer (on-ball and off-ball) is a major plus in today's NBA.
I have went on the record saying that I feel that Jerian Grant should be the Bulls starter at point guard, and I won't flip-flop on that, but that doesn't mean Payne shouldn't be a part of the franchise's future.
In the above game Payne had 22 points, six assists, and six rebounds, with zero turnovers.
What I was most interested in was how Payne interacted with his teammates at the D-League level in terms of pick-and-roll action and ball movement. When Chicago Bulls players Bobby Portis, Denzel Valentine, and Jerian Grant made appearances in the D-League this year they all exploded for (at least) 30-point games, showing that their scoring prowess put them head and shoulders above the lesser D-League competition.
But Payne was different. He talked when he was on the floor, A LOT. But this was not necessarily a bad thing. Payne showed a variety of emotions that are only able to be understood fully when you witness them in person.
When Payne missed a open shot he would curse himself loudly, despite finishing the game 53% from the field. When his teammates missed open shots off of nice feeds his was clearly frustrated, but didn't admonish them for messing up. But most importantly Payne listened to coaching and did not perform poorly despite having three D-League regulars finish the game with more minutes than he.
In terms of strictly on-court performance, Payne's 40% from deep (deep=three-point range) was nice because both the threes he hit were off of pick-and-roll action where he was the primary ball-handler. And speaking off that, Payne's zero turnovers were great to see. He played under control, but with proper pacing depending on the situation.
He turned up his aggressiveness on the offensive end later in the game once the Westchester Knicks (I know...) started to mount a comeback after trailing throughout the game. Payne's ability to get defenders on his back and also fire cross-court passes for open corner threes regularly placed tremendous amounts of pressure on the opposing defense.
Notice how long I waited to mention Payne's defense. That side of the ball has always been his weakness, but he has improved. His diminutive size hurts him, but he has the wingspan of a person who is 6-foot 8-inches tall. That helps him harass defenders, even why they beat him off the dribble. Three point guards on Westchester combined for 39 points, and a decent portion of the points came from Payne (and other Windy City Bulls guards) over-helping on penetration and post-ups. If Payne can start understanding the finer intricacies of help defense he will eventually get to the point where he does not hurt his team on that end, because his issues on defense certainly do not come from a lack of effort.
At the end of the day Cameron Payne has gotten to where is in his basketball career because his confidence has always been able to stabilize game. And I truly feel the reason Payne has not started to show dramatic improvement yet is because of a lack of trust from various coaching staffs. Payne is the type of player who should be getting 20 to 25 minutes a game. He tries on defense and his sweet left-handed shooting stroke makes him a better backup guard than Michael Carter-Williams. He is an emotional spark-plug whether he comes off the bench or starts. His energy is super infectious and would greatly help along the process of changing the mood of the Bulls franchise.
Yes, I Michael Walton II am campaigning for Cam Payne to get more minutes.
