Age: 23; Height: 6-10; Weight: 245; Wingspan: 7-4
Season Stats (as of 2/17)
28.6 mpg, 16.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.9 bpg, 1.9 tpg, 2.7 fpg, .526 FG, .790 FT, .431 3P
Strengths
-Prototypical height/weight/length/athleticism
-Explosive leaper, even from a standstill
-Runs the floor well
-Quick, mobile
-Great hands on lobs, on the move
-Strong, high efficiency finisher
-Solid post game
-Much improved jump shooter
-3-point range
-Pick-and-roll/pop threat
-Good foul shooter
-Very good defender
-Length and athleticism are very disruptive
-Gives great effort, particularly on D
-Solid rebounder, tools to be better
-High floor, great role player potential
Weaknesses
-Needs to better redistribute weight/strength
-Can be a little robotic
-Slowish release on jumper
-Turnover prone
-Questionable feel on offense
-Underwhelming rebounding/shot blocking totals
-Should be better on the glass
-Capped upside due to age
-Struggled with injuries in 2014
NBA Comparison
There aren't a lot of long, athletic big men with top defensive chops that are also excellent shooters, but Serge Ibaka fits the bill. Payne isn't likely going to be that level of a player because he isn't as good defenively as Ibaka, but he could still be a very valuable player. Another difference between the two? Ibaka, 5 years into his NBA career, is just 17 months older than Payne.
Draft Projection
If he had this skillset as a 18-20 year old, he would be a top 10 pick at least, but at 23 Payne is much more likely to fit in from 15-25 in the first round. His shooting/defense combination will interest teams looking to stretch 4 and defensive big man. Payne has big time role player potential and should stick around for a long time if he continues to shoot 35-40% on 3s.
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