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An ex-lottery pick who played a steady role for the last New York Knicks team to make the playoffs looks to have found a new hardwood home or two. After eight years in the NBA — during which he started 395 of 500 games (including almost 100 for the Knicks) — Elfrid Payton is on his way to the Caribbean. Or maybe he’s heading to Fort Wayne, Indiana?
There’s also a chance that both places are on his itinerary.
Per an announcement from the team on its official Facebook page on Monday, Osos de Manati of the Puerto Rican Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league has signed Payton to a contract. The acquisition was also reported on by Sportando‘s Dario Skerletic and the Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
Then, on Wednesday, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants — G League affiliate of the Indiana Pacers — dropped an announcement of their own which stated that they had acquired Payton’s returning player rights. It was a move that longtime league insider Marc Stein had hinted at one week prior.
Meanwhile, the folks over at HoopsHype logged both transactions.
Former Knick Elfrid Payton Could Play in Both the G League and Puerto Rico
Reports of Payton throwing his lot in with two different teams may not be the paradox it seems to be. The BSN season doesn’t actually start until March 22 and the 36-game schedule runs through the first week of August. Meanwhile, the 2022-23 G League campaign will wrap up with a best-of-three Finals series in April. And G-Leaguers spending their summers overseas is far from a rarity.
Time will tell where Payton actually suits up next. In any case, as a former No. 14 overall pick and a career starter who’s still just 28, it wouldn’t be surprising for the baller’s dance card to be full.
Payton spent the 2021-22 season with the Phoenix Suns. However, he was relegated to third-team status by Suns coach Monty Williams, averaging just 11.0 minutes across 50 total appearances. Along the way, he put up 3.0 PPG and 2.0 APG while shooting 38.3% from the floor.
Before that, though, he spent two seasons in NYC with the Knicks, averaging a respectable 10.1 points, 4.9 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest.
Cavs Star Darius Garland Recently Told a Hilarious Payton Story
During a recent appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast, The Old Man & the Three, Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland revealed that Payton gave him his “Welcome to the NBA” moment at MSG.
Here’s the story, as told by Garland himself:
We were playing against the Knicks and Elfrid Payton, he just comes out cooking me — literally cooking me. I think we lose, and Elfrid Payton had a triple-double… I’m thinking like, ‘Elfrid Payton just one regular guy in the league…’
I came out in the Garden thinking that it was going to be a cool, little smooth night, have a good game my rookie year, and it was total opposite. He was putting his shoulder in my chest. I can’t breathe for a little bit. He’s just, literally, little bro-ing me everywhere on the floor. It was crazy.
The game in question actually occurred on February 3, 2020 in Cleveland. Payton dropped 17 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds to key a 139-134 victory.
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