4 Philadelphia 76ers who are now playing for their NBA future
4. Cameron Payne
Another veteran guard who should treat these remaining games as a big audition piece is Cameron Payne, one of the 76ers’ trade deadline acquisitions. So far, he’s been a serviceable combo guard off the bench, scoring in bunches and setting the table for his teammates while playing good defense for the most part.
That being said, it would take more than that if the 29-year-old wants more security and tenure on his subsequent contract. He’s shown in recent years that he can be an effective second unit guard, but his game is far from perfect for his projected role.
Payne has to be a lot more efficient as a scoring guard. He shot almost 49 percent from the field in his two most productive seasons in Phoenix just recently, but that’s taken a nosedive since. His three-point shot also needs to be more consistent to compensate for its preternatural mechanics.