The Hornets have been in the news recently for the failed Mark Williams-Dalton Knecht trade involving the Los Angeles Lakers. But the team has also had a few reclamation projects this season that might have gone unnoticed. Chief among them is the apparent resurgence of Elfrid Payton who just inked another 10-day contract with the Hornets, as per Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com.

With this being Elfrid Payton’s second 10-day contract, the Hornets will either have to sign him for the rest of the season or let him go once these next ten days are up.

Payton was initially signed by the Hornets back on Feb.7 amid multiple injuries to their backcourt. Tre Mann, who had been another of the Hornets’ reclamation projects this season, has missed a substantial amount of time due to a back injury. LaMelo Ball has been in and out of the lineup due to injury.

Payton has split time this season between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Hornets, and was playing for the Birmingham Squadron in the G League in between.

It’s been a tough season for the Hornets who are currently 13-39 and in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings. The only team in the East with a worse record is the Washington Wizards.

Elfrid Payton revives NBA career

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Payton was originally selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, and immediately traded to the Orlando Magic.

He has generally been a productive point guard wherever he’s gone, but after the 2021-22 season, he found himself out of the NBA. Over the past couple of seasons, Payton has played for the Indiana Mad Ants in the G League as well as with Osos de Manatí in Puerto Rico.

Payton was in training camp with the Pelicans, but did not make the regular season roster. Across nine games with both the Pelicans and Hornets, he’s averaged 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 44.6 percent from the field.

In addition to the Magic, Pelicans and Hornets, Payton has also played for the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns. He averaged double figures in scoring in six of his first eight seasons in the NBA as well as over six assists in those six seasons as well.

While the Hornets have 15 standard contracts on their current roster, not including Payton, they were granted an hardship exception to sign him initially due to the number of unavailable players due to injury. Mann, Brandon Miller and Grant Williams are all out for the season.