2016 NBA DRAFT PROSPECTS (GARY PAYTON II)

GARY PAYTON II

COLLEGE: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

HEIGHT: 6’2″

WEIGHT: 190 POUNDS

AGE: 23 YEARS OLD

POSITION: POINT GUARD/SHOOTING GUARD

CLASS: SENIOR

2015-2016 STATISTICS: 16PTS, 7.6REB, 5.3AST

PROJECTED DRAFT POSITION: END OF FIRST ROUND/BEGINNING OF 2ND ROUND

NBA DRAFT COMPARISON: AVERY BRADLEY

PLAYER SUMMARY: Payton is the son of former NBA PG and Hall Of Famer Gary Payton. Payton II followed in his footsteps and attended Oregon State. He was recruited out of high school by former Beaver Coach Craig Robinson, who is Michelle Obama’s brother.

Payton II has improved tremendously each year he has been at Oregon State. The lefty shooting PG is a tremendous on-ball defender, just like his father. He possesses nice size for the PG position and is one of the best overall athletes who will be in the 2015 NBA Draft. He is very good at getting to the rim, in which he uses he great athletic ability to convert at the rim.

Payton needs to improve his overall shooting. Right now he is considered more of a slasher then a shooter. At the NBA level he must improve his shooting in order to keep opposing defenses honest. I hve only seen Payton play live on television a few times in his college career. However, I have watched numerous game footage of him play at Oregon State.

In my opinion, Gary Payton II has a good chance of carving out a nice NBA career. My belief is that he can be a solid back-up PG at the NBA level. He can be a real nice asset on a teams’ second unit as a player that can run the offense in spurts while playing superb man to man defense. I believe he is in the 2nd tier of PG’s that will be available come NBA Draft night. I look for him to be a late first round to early second round draft pick. If he can improve his shooting before the pre-draft NBA workouts and combine, Payton has a chance to move up some spots in the draft.