I'm curious and this isn't directed at you alone but all of those who have been voiced their displeasure for Payne's game why he is solely blamed for his offensive struggles while Ayton, Durant, Paul, Craig, Okogie, and virtually every other Sun who struggled offensively led to those same folks blaming Monty for their issues. Why is Payne seemingly the only guy who doesn't get a pass because Monty couldn't gameplan? Seems odd to me. As a PG, he was more directly in charge of following Monty's plans since the PG is the QB of the offense. If anyone deserves a pass, it's the PG since they're locked into a more defined role but he's the only guy whose decisions seemed to be his own fault, according to some posters. It just doesn't make sense to me.
I'm not saying Payne was perfect, he did struggle when he returned from injury. It also seemed Monty would trust him some nights and not others, regardless of whether his play matched that level of trust, good or bad. He did contribute here and played about as well as any backup PG in the league though. He also stepped his game regularly when called upon to start in Paul's place. I don't believe he deserves the hate or negativity some have shown given how he was a consummate professional here and genuinely wanted to be here, never being an off court problem from all accounts or complaining about his role, or lack of one.