Magic's Skiles on Elfrid Payton's broken shot: 'He's in here ... He knows how important it is'
As a 20-year-old rookie, Elfrid Payton showed flashes of a potential star in the making.
The Orlando Magic guard's defensive ability and court vision are already well ahead of most ball handlers his age, and if he can address the one major weakness in his game – his wonky shooting mechanics – the Magic could have themselves one heck of a backcourt between Payton and Victor Oladipo.
According to new Magic head coach Scott Skiles, Payton is already working out the kinks for his sophomore campaign.
"He's in here, he has made a commitment this summer to correct some technical issues with his shots – not get it behind his ear, get it out in front of him," Skiles told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.
"He's improved already. He knows how important it is. I mean the guy can get in the lane at will, imagine if he could consistently make an elbow jump shot off a pick-and-roll when they go under, and then eventually mix in a corner-3, which is a shot that guards need to make in the NBA," Skiles said.
For what it's worth, Payton, who averaged 8.9 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals en route to an All-Rookie 1st Team selection, shot 5-of-13 from the corners this season in an incredibly small sample size, according to vorped.com. He attempted only 42 total three-pointers in 82 games – making 11 of them – and shot a putrid 34.9 percent outside of three feet.
"It's really going to open up his game," Skiles told Mannix about the prospect of Payton improving his shooting. "You've got to give him a lot of credit," Payton's new coach added. "There are guys that are self-conscious about it, and they're not willing to put in the time to correct it, and he is. I'm excited for him, because I think he's going to come back a much improved player."
Skiles did note, however, that Summer League is likely too soon to see results.
Payton, the 10th overall selection in last June's draft, finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.