2014 NBA Draft: Players The Houston Rockets Should Consider At #25

Mar 21, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns guard Elfrid Payton (2) pulls down a rebound against the Creighton Bluejays in the second half of a men

Elfrid Payton

Point Guard – Louisiana Lafayette

As discussed in several articles here at House of Houston, for the Rockets to make a big move and add a star player, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik will have to be dealt as part of a trade for a star player. Teams must meet the financial requirements of a trade in the NBA where outgoing and incoming salaries must be within a certain percentage of each other in order to be a valid trade. Losing Lin will create a need for depth at point guard.

Elfrid Payton is a small school point guard that measures 6’4”, 185 with a 6’8” wingspan. He excels on the defensive end of the court as well as being an excellent ballhandler.  He is also very strong in transition and an excellent distributor.

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Payton’s calling card though is his defense. He has shown a willingness to defend multiple positions at the collegiate level. In someways Payton’s upside somewhat similar the Rockets own Patrick Beverley, although Payton has more length.

What Payton doesn’t do as well as Beverley is perimeter shooting. Although Beverley is not known as a shooter, he did hit a respectable 36% from 3 point range this past season after working on it extensively last off-season. At the NBA level, Payton must become a competent 3 point shooter to keep teams from backing off and daring him to shoot as was the case for point guards like Jason Kidd and Rajon Rondo, early in their careers.

Payton must also improve his free throw shooting, where he shot 61% last year, far too low for a point guard whose primary offensive game is driving to the basket.

The Rockets must improve their defensive play among the non-star players and Payton would give them a bigger point guard who can defend. Being that he’s a small school player, it’s difficult to access where he might go in the draft but most think he should be in the range where the Rockets selection will be.