Payne has worked his way up my board and into my heart. He was on the first-team All-OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) in both of his seasons and he won the OVC player of the year award for the 2014-15 seasons.
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Bleacher Report says Thunder draft pick Cameron Payne has “steal-of-the-draft” potential.
Still, If one position remains unsettled it’s shooting guard, opposite point guard Russell Westbrook. Augustin.
“I was thinking I was going to go earlier, but man, God put me in the perfect fit”, Payne said.
Payne was a monster playmaker for the Racers, averaging 20.2 points per game, but also dishing almost six assists. Payne suffered a fractured finger during his pre-draft workout with the Nuggets, but the injury is not considered serious and should not impact him going forward. “I think that it is pretty equally distributed”. “The biggest thing with him is that he has great vision. That was really encouraging for us”.
“Those guys set the tone for a lot of mid-major players”, Payne said. “They’re into the run-and-gun and I’ve been doing that all my life”.
You’re back! Told ya the kid can pass the ball pretty freaking good, but if he ends up in OKC, he’ll get relegated to briefly running the Thunder’s second unit when Durant and Westbrook hit the bench. He’s also a solid passer that can make some plays for others.
“I’m still Cameron Payne,” he said. “He’s got a bright, bright future, and I’m just glad to be a little bit of a part of it”. No matter – the Thunder filled a certain need in selecting Payne.
“We were thinking about someone who would be a great fit not only for our team, organization and community, but had the right makeup to come into this stage of the team that we’re in right now”, Presti said.
The Thunder must agree, for it used its lottery pick on the 6-foot-2 point guard, two hours before taking 7-foot center Dakari Johnson of Kentucky in the second round.
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“He knew it was going to be a process to grow and develop”, Thunder Head Coach, Billy Donovan said. Frequent comparisons to the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard should make Thunder fans – and his new teammates – excited as the Thunder look to have a much better season this upcoming year.
