BROOKLYN, NY -- "There is no ceiling for Cameron Payne." And this is coming from the new Thunder guard himself.
The Oklahoma City Thunder selected the confident young guard with the fourteenth selection of the 2015 NBA Draft, the final pick in what is considered the draft lottery. Payne is the first-ever Murray State Racer to be taken in the lottery, just providing the self-nicknamed 'The Campaign' with evidence for his 'sky is the limit' attitude.
Payne was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after his 2014-2015 sophomore season at Murray State, a campaign in which he chalked up 20.2 points per game, 6.0 assists per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, and 1.9 steals per game. He will have a great chance to build as a combo guard alongside OKC superstar Russell Westbrook, whom he will be playing alongside as a member of the Thunder.
Oklahoma City needs a second reliable long-term option to place next to or behind Westbrook, as D.J. Augustin is the closest they have to a dependable auxiliary option. Payne can help provide the electric energy OKC likes to play with, as he showed that despite his point guard size at 6'2", he was able to grab nearly four boards a game.
Payne is evidently a playmaker at heart, but what stands out for him and makes him so intriguing for OKC is his craftiness and court vision. The 20-year old point guard also functions as a great leader on the court, something coaches always love to see, and even moreso when they are in their first year coaching a team, just like newly-inked Thunder coach Billy Donovan.
As a Thunder player, Payne will most likely use his distribution skills rather than his scoring, as stars Westbrook and Durant take the brunt of the basketball's possession. The playmaking ability will come as a bonus for Cam and OKC.
“I feel I can bring great leadership to the team,” Payne said. “And I’ve been winning all my life, so I’m definitely going to bring my competitive nature.”
The hardest part for Payne will be proving that he is also able to compete at an elite level at the NBA tier of competition, as the Ohio Valley Conference is not one of the most revered or prestigious conferences in NCAA basketball, to say the least.
The Thunder were linked to conversations revolving around Payne prior to draft day, and have been known to make agreements with prospects to draft their draft board targets if available. In 2009, OKC promised Reggie Jackson they would pick him if he dropped to the 24th slot in the draft, and then again with Josh Huestis in 2014. Huestis was promised to come off the board last season if he agreed to play a season in the NBA D-League. Chances are that OKC made some sort of agreement with Payne as well.
Oklahoma City sure is happy to have Payne on board. Now they need to find a way to put their new pieces together and recover from last year's missing of the playoffs.