By John DentonOct. 25, 2015
ORLANDO – Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton probably deserves a little slack when it comes to him dealing with the hamstring injury that has bothered him throughout the recently concluded preseason.
After all, Payton – the only Magic player to appear in all 82 games last season – hadn’t previously missed a game because of injury since he was a small child battling through a case of the chicken pox.
“And that was for football,” Payton said with a chuckle. “I wanted to play (with the chicken pox) but they wouldn’t let me.”
Payton, 21, missed the final five games of the preseason with a hamstring injury that has lingered much of the past two weeks. His absence was significant because he’s never been the type to miss games and because it put him behind his teammates in the preparation for Wednesday night’s regular season-opener at the Amway Center. The Magic could certainly use Payton and his cat-quick defensive excellence for that game considering that they will be opening against all-star point guard John Wall and the Washington Wizards.
Payton returned to practice on a limited basis on Sunday, going through all of the non-contact work with his teammates. The Magic hope to see how Payton’s hamstring feels on Monday morning and hopefully his workload can be ramped up the next two days in practice. If he passes all of those tests, he could potentially play on Wednesday night.
“It felt good. I ran up and down a little bit and I’m looking forward to getting back out there (on Monday),” Payton said. “I just have to continue to practice at a high level each and every day and the rest will take care of itself. I know I worked hard this summer, so it won’t take much time for me to get back to the court.”
Magic coach Scott Skiles said the second-year point guard still has time to get back into the rotation for Wednesday’s opener if he practices well the next two days and in the morning shootaround before the game. If Payton suffers a setback or isn’t deemed ready, Orlando will likely start veteran C.J. Watson and has Shabazz Napier available as well.
“(He has to) get through a practice,” Skiles said. “Once the season starts and there’s an established rotational player and they miss two games because of a bruised something-or-another and they are back active, they can come right back in. But he’s missed a lot of time now. We’ll have a protocol for that during the season. … I anticipate he is going to be able to go through practice and if he does there might not have any effect and we’ll put this behind us. But we’ll have to see.”
Payton, whom the Magic acquired in a draft-night trade in June of 2014, finished fourth in the NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting last spring. As a rookie, he averaged 8.9 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game. Also, he became the first rookie in the NBA to compile triple-doubles in consecutive games in 17 years.
Payton did all of that while struggling to find much consistency with a shooting form filled with flaws. He worked hard on his shot over the summer, drilling with shooting guru Dave Love to improve on a shot that saw him make just 42.5 percent of his field goals, 11 of 42 (26.5 percent) 3-point shots and 55.1 percent of his free throws as a rookie.
Prior to his injury, Payton’s performance in the Magic’s first three preseason games – 5.3 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 38.1 percent shooting – was spotty as he tried to adjust to Skiles’ system of more passing and cutting and less dribbling. Payton thrived last season as a player who would beat foes off the dribble and get into the lane to set others up for open shots. However, Skiles has been on Payton and others to either pass the ball or shoot it, but don’t continue to pound the dribble without making progress toward the rim. And because Payton’s shot is still evolving, he has struggled somewhat as a spot-up shooter and someone who doesn’t have the ball in his hands as much.
“I don’t think it’s been that tough of an adjustment,” Payton said. “It’s just about moving the ball, (passing) it up the court faster and swinging it around the perimeter. It’s just about getting good shots and coach has been harping on that. We’ve all been doing our best to play that way and have it translate to our style. So I think we’ll get it and we’ll be all right.”
Payton can’t even remember injuring his hamstring, saying that he first felt pain a couple of hours after practice on Oct. 10 as he was driving to the airport for Orlando’s road game against Houston. He tried to return to practice three times after that only to have the pain and soreness in the hamstring return.
Missing a game – much less five in a row – was a weird and helpless feeling for Payton considering his history of health. The Gretna, La., native said he never missed a game because of an injury in middle school, high school or college. His only close call last season with the Magic was when he suffered a slightly sprained knee in New York, but he pushed through that scare and never missed a beat.
He is hopeful that a similar scenario will play out over the next couple of days and he’ll be ready to go on Wednesday night against Wall and the Wizards. “The toughest part has been that I can’t get out there and help my teammates,” Payton said. “That’s the most important thing to me and that’s why I want to get over this. I’ll be ready soon.”
