Former Indiana Pacers and Mad Ants guard Elfrid Payton has signed a coaching camp contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, based on a press launch. tweet from ESPN journalist Andrew Lopez.
Payton, 30, initially joined the Pacers group when he signed with their G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, in 2022-23. Payton was acquired by way of the accessible participant pool and hoped to return to the NBA.
“I am simply on the lookout for a solution to additional my profession, making an attempt to get again to the NBA. I have been going forwards and backwards between abroad and the G League,” Payton stated Pacers on SI of his G League journey. “After speaking to lots of people and gathering extra info, I made a decision [on the] “G League.”
Though a number of NBA groups confirmed curiosity in Payton through the years, he was by no means known as up whereas with the Mad Ants. signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pacers earlier than final season, however he by no means participated within the Bleu et Or coaching camp. He was launched a number of days later.
He’s now headed to a brand new group. He performed for the Pelicans in 2018-19 and began 42 video games for the staff on the time. Payton is a Louisiana native.
Payton performed in 39 video games for the Mad Ants and scored 10.8 factors per recreation. He additionally averaged 8.2 assists per recreation and was a key chief for a staff that made the G League playoffs twice. The 2014 lottery choose had a short stint with the American staff final season.
