Cam Payne, who spent last season as the Knicks' backup point guard, has officially signed a training camp contract with the Indiana Pacers, the team announced. The Pacers, who have been a long-time rival of the Knicks, have been a major thorn in their side recently, eliminating them from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
Interestingly enough, the Pacers waived Delon Wright, another guard who spent last season in New York, to facilitate the move.
Payne didn't choose the Pacers to spite the Knicks, obviously. The Knicks signed several veterans in free agency over the summer, such as Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson, while also inking Trey Jemison III, Alex Len, Matt Ryan, Garrison Mathews, and Malcolm Brogdon to non-guaranteed deals. They also retained Landry Shamet on a non-guaranteed deal, although he is expected to make the final roster. Whether or not the Knicks and Payne ever had serious discussions on him returning to New York is unclear.
Payne fills a hole for the Pacers
The Pacers have dealt with several injuries to their backcourt. They will be without Tyrese Haliburton for most, if not all, of the season, after he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA finals.
More recently, backup guard T.J. McConnell suffered a hamstring injury in the Pacers' preseason game against the Timberwolves. It isn't clear how severe the injury is, or how much time he will miss, so signing another guard who can run the offense makes sense for Indiana.
Last season, Payne averaged 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists over 72 games for the Knicks. He shot a hair over 40 percent from the field, while knocking down 36.3 percent of his shots from three.
Payne is capable of running the pick-and-roll, which he spent nearly 40 percent of his offensive plays doing last season. The veteran guard generated 0.98 points per possession on those plays, which ranked in the 78th percentile.
Knicks might miss his dribble shooting
While the Knicks should feel good about the upgrades they made to their bench this offseason, one area they could miss Payne is his shooting off the dribble. Last season, outside of Jalen Brunson, Payne was one of the few Knicks players who could get their own shot off.
In fact, 60.1 percent of Payne's total shots last season were self-created. That alone should be a big boost for an Indiana team that will be missing its best shot-creator.