Will Elfrid Payton have a greater fantasy impact in Phoenix?

Elfrid Payton, the 10th pick in the 2014 Draft, is heading west to Phoenix. Payton will be a free agent at the end of the season, and it appeared that Orlando was moving away from him anyway in recent games. Shelvin Mack and D.J. Augustin were already stealing his minutes.

Here is the deal that is taking Payton to the valley of the sun:

Schematically, this is a great deal for Phoenix and Payton’s fantasy owners alike. The Suns have been ravaged by injuries this year, particularly in the backcourt. They traded disgruntled Eric Bledsoe to the Bucks, thinking they had plenty of depth. They did until they didn’t.

Tyler Ulis is battling a bad back and has been in and out of the lineup lately. Isaiah Canaan was brought in for reinforcements, but he is out for the season now. The Suns even moved Devin Booker to point for a spell, but he is far more valuable as a shooter than a distributor.

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Payton will step right in as the starter for the Suns. Due to the fact that the Suns run a faster game, there should be a lot more opportunities for Payton. I would get in contact with the Payton owner in your league and see if he is available. Payton should help in points and assists, but he may hurt your percentages some.

This is a great time to go pick up D.J. Augustin and Shelvin Mack in that order. I like Augustin enough to go after him even in standard leagues if you need help in assists. Mack is good for use in 12 team leagues or larger. You can even use him as a streaming option in standard leagues if you need the production. Augustin is the main guy to have now, but he and Mack could end up splitting the minutes before the end of the season.

This doesn’t affect the pecking order in Phoenix much since Ulis wasn’t much of a fantasy asset anyway. The arrival of Payton isn’t going to affect Booker’s production much, if at all.

As for Orlando, they sell off a guy that they thought they weren’t going to be able to re-sign anyway. In return, they get a very high second round pick in a very loaded draft.

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