Adreian Payne was assigned to the D-League on Thursday, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Payne was assigned to the D-League on Thursday, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Analysis:

The rookie out of Michigan State dealt with a foot injury at the end of the preseason, which set him back and prevented him from cracking the early-season rotation. He's been a healthy inactive for the past few games, and the team will send him down to the D-League for the weekend, where he'll have an opportunity to play starter's minutes on a nightly basis.