Former first-round pick Elfrid Payton signs G League contract

Free-agent guard Elfrid Payton has inked a contract to play in the NBA G League, sources tell veteran reporter Marc Stein (Twitter link).

Payton, who turns 29 in a few weeks, was a lottery pick back in 2014, selected No. 10 overall by the Magic. He spent last season with the Suns on a minimum-salary contract, but didn’t see much playing time as the third-string point guard, appearing in 50 games with career lows in minutes per game (11.0), points (3.0), rebounds (1.8), assists (2.0), FG% (38.3) and FT% (37.5).

While Payton has never been a great shooter, posting a career .447/.287/.623 slash line, he has been an above-average rebounder and decent play-maker. Across 500 regular-season games (395 starts, 26.8 minutes) in eight NBA seasons with Orlando, New Orleans, New York and Phoenix, he holds career averages of 10.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.2 steals.