The Pelicans have finalized an agreement with free agent guard Elfrid Payton, as confirmed by his agent, Darrell Comer, in a report by Shams Charania of ESPN.
As noted by Charania, this deal marks a reunion between Payton and Pelicans head coach Willie Green, who were teammates on the Magic during the 2014/15 season, which was both Green’s last year as a player and Payton’s first.
Selected 10th overall in the 2014 draft, Payton has participated in 500 regular season games over his eight-year NBA career, representing the Magic, Suns, Pelicans, and Knicks. However, he has not been part of a regular season roster since his time with the Suns in the 2021/22 season. The 30-year-old spent time playing in Puerto Rico in 2023 and most recently played for the Indiana Mad Ants, an affiliate of the Pacers in the G League last season.
A Louisiana native who played college basketball for the Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette, Payton is not particularly known for his shooting, posting career averages of 44.7% from the field and 28.7% from beyond the arc. Nonetheless, his abilities as a ball-handler and play-maker have made him noteworthy, as he averages 10.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game over the course of his NBA career.
Last month, Payton took part in a training camp with the Pelicans before joining their G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron, at the start of the season.
It appears New Orleans may be eligible for a hardship exception due to injuries impacting Dejounte Murray (hand), Herbert Jones (shoulder), Zion Williamson (hamstring), CJ McCollum (thigh), Jose Alvarado (hamstring), and Jordan Hawkins (back). Charania indicates that the team is waiving Jaylen Nowell to free up a spot on the 15-man roster for Payton.
This decision implies that the Pelicans either expect some injured players to return in the coming weeks or are seeking to avoid exceeding the luxury tax threshold with their salary obligations.
During his eight games with the Pelicans, Nowell averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 21.0 minutes per contest, with shooting splits of .356/.296/.636. As he was under a non-guaranteed contract, the team will face a minimal cap hit for the duration of his time on the roster. If officially waived on Wednesday, this cap hit will total $278,782.
Details regarding Payton’s contract have not been disclosed, but it is anticipated to be a non-guaranteed minimum-salary deal, akin to Nowell’s.
Image Source: Elfrid Payton @ Instagram
