Man, how will we EVER get past losing out on the .45 % TS, 20% TOV rate PG who can't and doesn't shoot a lick.
He's just gotten the minutes to occasionally run into a good game. Only impressive thing I've seen is the rebounding from PG.
nik stauskas is only putting up 49% TS in a rookie season in which he's struggled to get on the court despite the kings' lack of guard depth, and stauskas was
advertised as an ace shooter coming out of college. payton, on the other hand, is out there producing nightly. sure, he can't shoot worth a damn, and he'll likely never be a great shooter, but you can just tell that kid
belongs on the court. more importantly, you can tell that kid
wants it, particularly on the defensive end, which is what i admire about him most...
intangibles matter, and what's been so disappointing to me about the kings' back-to-back SG selections in the draft is that most of the time they appear to let the game pass them by. they don't seem to have much in the way of assertiveness or killer instinct. that said, i think stauskas will be fine in the long term. i think he'll develop into a solid contributor on offense, especially if his stroke and his confidence continue to improve under george karl. but it doesn't sit well with me that the kings used up two straight first round draft picks on shooters who couldn't shoot once they stepped onto an nba court (again, i think it points to that lack of killer instinct), and don't project to contribute substantially in any other way...
now, i don't think either payton or stauskas are destined for future all-star status. but if i'm an nba head coach or an established star, i want to draft a gutsy player like elfrid payton to get in the trenches with me, a player who has knuckled down on defense from minute one, has good PG instincts, and has plenty of time to improve as a free throw shooter and cut his turnover rate down. i remain unconvinced that ben mclemore is going to become the consistent 3-
and-D guy that kings fans want him to be, and it strikes me as a hope-and-a-prayer that nik stauskas will become anything better than below-average on the defensive end...