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Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard praises Orlando Magic’s Elfrid Payton

By Andrew Melnick

May 2, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) walks off the court after hitting the game winning shot against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter in game six of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
May 2, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) walks off the court after hitting the game winning shot against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter in game six of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Portland Trail Blazers’ point guard Damian Lillard took his game to another level last season and is now a legitimate NBA All-Star. Being from Weber Stare, Lillard has also served as hope for small school players, especially former Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns’ and current Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton.

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Payton is a player Lillard has watched and heaped praise upon.

“In Elfrid I saw a player with great size and length and how he played the game. He defended and made plays and scored when he needed to,’’ Lillard said via John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com. “When I sat back and watched him play, I just said to myself, `Wow, that’s a NBA player.’ A lot of times you can’t see that in college players. Some of them have all of the hype, but you just can’t see pro potential in them. But with Elfrid, I knew he would be good at the NBA level.’’

Payton actually looks up to Lillard so he was honored to hear what Lillard had to say.

“Somebody (like Lillard) coming from a small school with the odds stacked against him, he showed that if you continue to work hard it paid off for him,’’ Payton said recently. “You can see now that he’s one of the best in the game right now and he’s doing well for himself.’’

Lillard averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 42.4% from the field, 39.4% from beyond the arc and 87.1% from the free throw line last season. Payton put up 19.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game and shot 50.0% from the floor, but just 25.9% from beyond the arc and 59.0% from the free throw line. He measured in at 6’3.75 and 185 lbs. with a wingspan of 6’8 at the NBA’s Scouting Combine. Payton was ranked as the 15th-best prospect in the draft by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.

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