Scouting Report: Cameron Payne

Cameron Payne is a 6’2 point guard from Murray State University. For the year, Payne averaged 32.2 minutes per game, 20.2 points per game, 6.0 assists per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 45.6% from the field, and 37.7% from three.

Pros:

• Elite basketball IQ
• Amazing court vision
• Great passing abilities
• Good shooting form
• Has range for any shot
• Good, reliable mid-range game
• Good pick-and-roll man
• Reliable ball handling skills
• Active defender
• Shows great leadership qualities

Cons:

• Needs to add muscle to his frame
• Lacks explosiveness
• Needs to work on turnovers
• Although, Payne possess great passing and vision, plays to quick and rushes things
• Needs to learn to embrace contact instead of settling for floaters

Overall:

Cameron Payne is a fun player to watch. Payne plays with such great creativity and intelligence you can never expect the normal from him. On the offensive side of the ball, Payne is a great leader capable of leading a fast offensive attack on his opponents. Payne has great vision to pair with his passing abilities that he uses to get his teammates involved, mainly his big men down low. The knock on his passing game is that he plays too fast and does not allow for everything around him to settle, leading to turnovers. Payne is great in the pick-and-roll as he uses his quickness to drive the lane or pull back for an open three. If he does drive the lane, he must work on finishing at the rim as he so after does get caught using a floater instead of drawing contact at the rim. This flaw will have opposing rim protectors drooling to play against him at the next level. Another one of Payne’s offensive moves is his jumper. With his quick, smooth release that he does not need much space to get off, Payne is deadly from mid-range. His flaw with this move is that he becomes infatuated with it, and can start firing way to early in the playclock before everyone else gets settled for his team. Payne is a solid ball handler, but like most point guards can become turnover prone sometimes. On the defensive side of the ball, Payne is very active, pesky defender. He is a good one-on-one defender, who can be pushed around by the stronger point guards, and for this reason needs to add strength to his entire body. This lack of strength is prevalent in guarding the pick-and-roll has big men oppose their will on him and he can not recover. With that being said, Payne does strive in disrupting opposing team’s passing lanes, where he uses his quickness and length to intercept passes. Overall, Payne is a good point guard prospect, likely a career back-up with the ability to step in as a starter and his team would not miss a beat. Payne should expect to hear his name called in the later stage of the first round, between picks 20-25.

Pro Comparison:

Devin Harris

Aggressive, fast paced point guards, that is who Harris and Payne are. Harris and Payne offensively show similar qualities. Those similarities are good pick-and-roll guys, have range for any shot, and are extremely unselfish with the ball. Their style of pace is very similar and both players rely on quickness and speed to beat their man and lead the break. They share high turnover rates but that can be attributed to the fact they play fast and aggressive. On the defensive side of the ball, both Harris and Payne are good defenders who use length and speed to wreak havoc in passing lanes. Payne is a better overall defender than Harris, since he consistently plays at a high level on that end. Both players struggle with the lack of overall body strength so they get pushed around by stronger players. Overall, Payne is a bit better than Harris is right now due to having the same offensive skills and better defense. Although Harris a back-up, he is more than capable of starting for his team and leading them without that team missing a beat and that is exactly what Payne will bring to a team. Going to a contender in the mid-to-late first round will allow Payne to develop behind an established point guard, while he reinforces the reserves and occasionally gives the starting point guard a day off.

By: Mac Crowe, @Mac_Truck17