Elfrid Payton was suddenly involved in one of the last trades of this recent deadline, shipped to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a second-round pick going back to the Orlando Magic, his team of the last three seasons.
The Magic essentially gave up the promise of their starting point guard, and swapped it for the second-highest of three second-round picks that the Suns owned, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype.
The new Suns floor general was averaging a career-high 13 points while shooting 52 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from deep (both career-best), 6.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals this year before the trade went down — making this one huge steal for Phoenix, who was in dire need of a new point guard since the departure of Eric Bledsoe early in the year.
Asked if he felt disrespected by the way he was traded by the Magic, Payton gave a heartfelt response.
“I mean… A little bit,” he said. “I think a lot of other people were more upset about it than I was, though. Others took it to heart more than I did, but that’s just because of the type of person I am.”
“I’m pretty nonchalant and I don’t really get worked up, so it wasn’t really that big of a deal to me. I’ve always felt underrated and felt like I have to prove myself. I’m the kind of player who feels like you have to prove yourself every single night – no matter what you’ve done or who you are – because in this league everyone is thinking, “What have you done for me lately?” So it wasn’t too big of a deal to me.”
The funky-haired point man noted it was indeed a wild chain of events.
“It was kind of crazy, though. I’ve seen a lot of people say that it was a steal for Phoenix and stuff like that; I guess time will tell,” added Payton. “I heard they were offered a lot more than a second-round pick [from other teams], but they just didn’t decide to do one of those other trades… I don’t know all of the details, but I know they had offers from a team in the East and a different West Coast team other than Phoenix.”
In his two games since joining Phoenix, Payton has made the most of a depleted backcourt, posting 19 points against the Denver Nuggets and 29 points against the defending champion Golden State Warriors, his second-best scoring output of the season.
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