The Sacramento Kings are giving one of the New York Knicks’ former starting point guards another NBA shot.
Veteran guard Elfrid Payton has agreed to a deal with Sacramento and will compete for a roster spot, CSE Talent senior vice president Darrell Comer told HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto on September 16.
It is more than another late-summer camp signing for Payton. The move reunites him with Kings general manager Scott Perry, an executive whose history with the veteran guard stretches from Orlando to New York and now Sacramento.
Payton, 32, spent two seasons with the Knicks from 2019 to 2021 and started 99 regular-season games during that stretch. His second year included New York’s long-awaited return to the postseason.
Now he is trying to extend his NBA career with another familiar face making the roster decisions.
Elfrid Payton Started 99 Games for Knicks
Payton arrived in New York in July 2019 while Perry was the Knicks’ general manager.
He immediately took on a substantial role, averaging 10.0 points, 7.2 assists and 4.7 rebounds across 45 appearances in 2019-20. Payton started 36 of those games. The Knicks re-signed him the following offseason.
His role actually grew during Tom Thibodeau’s first season.
Payton started all 63 games he played in 2020-21, averaging 10.1 points in 23.6 minutes. He was New York’s nominal starting point guard as Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Derrick Rose helped push the Knicks to a 41-31 record and their first playoff appearance since 2013.
The fit was never seamless.
Payton provided size, ball pressure and rim attacks but little perimeter shooting. He made only 28.6% of his 3-pointers during the 2020-21 regular season, and his role shrank dramatically once the playoffs arrived.
That was the end of his Knicks tenure. Payton signed with Phoenix the following offseason.
Scott Perry and Payton Go Back More Than a Decade
Sacramento provides another Perry connection.
Perry worked in Orlando’s front office when the Magic acquired Payton on draft night in 2014. Philadelphia selected Payton with the No. 10 pick before sending his rights to Orlando in a trade involving the draft rights to Dario Saric and additional draft capital.
Five years later, with Perry running basketball operations in New York alongside team president Steve Mills, the Knicks signed Payton as a free agent.
The reunion in Sacramento therefore comes with considerable institutional familiarity. Perry has now been part of three organizations that brought Payton aboard.
Payton still has to earn the latest job.
Scotto reported that the agreement gives him an opportunity to compete for a roster spot rather than a guaranteed place on Sacramento’s opening-night team.
Payton Faces Crowded Kings Backcourt
There is no obvious path to major minutes.
Sacramento already lists Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, Darius Acuff Jr., Nique Clifford, Adam Flagler and Emanuel Sharp among its guards, while Ben Simmons gives the Kings another player capable of initiating offense.
That makes Payton’s passing and experience his clearest selling points.
He has averaged 5.8 assists over nine NBA seasons, according to the career numbers cited by Scotto, and he showed last season that the playmaking is still there. Payton spent 2025-26 with the Austin Spurs in the G League, averaging 6.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists.
His most recent NBA run came in 2024-25 with New Orleans and Charlotte. In 18 games for the Pelicans, he averaged 6.7 points and 6.9 assists, including a 21-assist performance against Indiana. Charlotte later signed him to a 10-day contract in February 2025.
More than five years have passed since Payton last wore a Knicks uniform. The cast around him has changed completely.
One detail has not: Scott Perry is again helping decide whether Elfrid Payton has an NBA job.
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