Hmm... maybe purely based on traditional stats, points, assists, rebounds, but based on impact, he was not only the worst point guard on the roster last year, but among the worst players in the NBA.
We preformed worse on offense across the board, and on defense he surrendered a PER of 25 to opposing point guards, basically making any guard he played against put up MVP level stats. With Payton off the court we were outscored by 7 points per 100 possessions (yeah, we were bad) with him ON the court that figured exploded to 20 points.
He is a terrible shooter, a complete disaster as a defender and the best thing that could be said about his passing was that he didn't turn the ball over much.
And, what Poop Head said is 100% correct. We could not have signed him for 2.5 mil, we would have had to keep him via the QO. Last seasons trade of a 2nd round pick and this contract from the Pelicans are strong indications that the entire league views Payton as a really bad player.
