Here we are, Bulls fans. The All Star break is over. The NBA trade deadline has passed. Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott are gone. Cameron Payne, Anthony Morrow and Joffrey Lauvergne arrive in Chicago for the final 25 games of the regular season and a potential playoff push. Morrow and Lauvergne are both older and on expiring contracts, so it’s unlikely that they’ll be anything more than half-season afterthoughts when all is said and done. The real prize (if you can call him that) of this trade with the Thunder is Payne, the 22 year old point guard who was stuck behind one-man-wrecking-crew Russell Westbrook in OKC.
Bulls VP John Paxson spoke very highly of Payne in his post-deadline press conference Thursday night, noting that they wanted him in the 2015 draft. Paxson also highlighted the team’s ongoing need for a promising young point guard as the reason for making this trade. So let’s take a closer look at the newest member of Fred Hoiberg’s overcrowded backcourt.
1. Injury Risk
Cameron showed signs of promise as a rookie, but his second season got off to a rocky start because of injury. Last summer, he had surgery to repair a fracture in the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. By the time training camp started, he supposedly made a full recovery and was cleared to practice. However, Payne suffered an acute fracture to the same metatarsal just a few days into camp. (Acute fractures are more serious than non-acute fractures. They happen quickly and are usually more painful.) The second fracture caused him to miss the first 37 games this season.
Not only did the injury put a huge road block in Payne’s rhythm (he’s shooting just 33.1% from the field since returning), but it’s a serious warning sign for the future. Foot injuries can derail careers, so it’s worrisome that Payne is already dealing with them at such a young age. It’s also less common to see foot issues in smaller players as opposed to big men. Bill Walton, Yao Ming, Jermaine O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all had their careers cut short or dramatically marginalized by foot injuries.
For a fanbase whose most recent point guard of value slowly deteriorated into an injury-plagued afterthought, Payne’s medical chart is unnerving.
But good basketball does run in his genes.
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