Tag: Cam Payne

Buddy Hield, Cam Payne discuss joining Sixers while missing key pieces

Buddy Hield and Cam Payne discuss joining the Philadelphia 76ers who are currently missing some key pieces.

PHILADELPHIA — New additions Buddy Hield and Cam Payne have played two games with the Philadelphia 76ers, but it hasn’t been while the team is whole at the moment.

Both Hield and Payne will play a very important role in whatever the Sixers do in the 2023-24 season, but this Sixers team is still missing key pieces.

Obviously, they haven’t played with Joel Embiid yet who is out due to undergoing a meniscus procedure on Feb. 6. They made their debuts with Tyrese Maxey sidelined before he returned on Saturday and they haven’t yet played with the injured De’Anthony Melton, Nic Batum, and Robert Covington.

“Nobody is gonna feel sorry for you in the NBA,” said Hield. “There’s no crying in basketball. My high school coach always used to say that in the Bahamas so you gotta figure it out. First day from physicals straight to the arena, watching film on the plane trying to figure out the schemes, but you never figure out everything until you’re really out there.”

Hield is all about professionalism. He has been thrust into some tough situations before in Sacramento and Indiana and will be looking to continue to be that same guy in Philadelphia despite so many key pieces missing at the moment.

“Just figuring out the team, figure out the terminology, we had a different type of terminology,” Hield added. “It’s the first day of school, man. Just trying to learn your new classmates and learn your new teachers which is the coaches and just figure out how everybody talks and communicates. You gotta be professional and embrace it and the end goal is to win a game and no matter what happens, we’re happy to get a win.”

Payne, who had to start in his debut in place of Maxey before coming off the bench on Saturday, has had to play a couple of different roles early. The Sixers will look to get him integrated as well as Philadelphia moves forward.

“It’s definitely different, but it’s OK, man,” Payne laughed. “We got a lot of good guys in there. We got some guys that are gonna fight to the end. Like me as well, I’m gonna fight so I love the guys. We out there playing with a lot of heart. We were down big, but we fought back and that’s a credit to the guys that’s on this team, but it will be a big bonus when we get those guys back, though.”

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Cam Payne discusses joining Sixers after making debut in loss to Hawks

Cam Payne discusses joining the Philadelphia 76ers after his debut in the loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers made a flurry of moves at the deadline, but their big acquisitions were Buddy Hield and Cam Payne. Both Hield and Payne are expected to make contributions to the Sixers as they move forward.

The debut for both players came on Friday in a 127-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was a loss, but the Sixers received strong play out of both players. Hield had 20 points, six assists and four rebounds while Payne had 20 points and five assists. The players combined to make eight triples.

“Shoutout to Pat Bev for getting that physical done, so I could come out here and play with my new team,” Payne jokingly said after the loss. “It’s been kind of a whirlwind. Got here super late last night. I met all the guys today, learned some offense today. It was pretty cool, though. It’s happened before so I’m kinda used to it, but hey man, shoutout to plan. I feel good. I’m cool.”

It’s extremely tough to come out the way Payne and Hield did on Friday with no practice time, but they were able to have a lot of success. The fact that they both were able to have solid scoring nights and make plays for others is a good sign for this group for the future even though Friday was a tough night in the loss.

“It’s really tough,” Payne admitted. “I played alright, but there’s still a lot of things, but man. I gotta find out tendencies of the other guys. I feel like I’ve been playing with Buddy Hield forever, but I’ve never played with him, but we started to find some synergy today. Me and Tobias Harris as well. It’s just gonna be different for me.”

It also helps that Payne played for coach Adrian Griffin a bit in Milwaukee. Griffin was an assistant under coach Nick Nurse so that helped with the transition a bit when it comes to similar offensive sets and the system Nurse runs because Griffin ran something similar.

Now, it’s just all about getting on the same page as his teammates.

“I gotta figure out the offense a little bit more,” Payne stated. “Figure out where all my guys can strive. Figure out their spots. I know Kelly (Oubre Jr.) likes getting to his left so I gotta figure out more ways to get him to the left throughout the offense. Man, shoutout to Nick Nurse, too. He was big time today getting me acclimated as well.”

As Payne and the Sixers move forward, the goal is to help make a big playoff run. This is all about pushing toward a championship and Friday was just the first step.

Philadelphia plays Saturday night in Washington, so there isn’t much time before the next game to figure everything out.

“A lot of film,” Payne said of the next steps. “I know tomorrow, we’re gonna watch a lot of film. Find out more ways to be aggressive, more ways to get easier baskets, figure out the defense. I’m still learning. Like I said, it’s my first day so it was pretty cool for my first day here. I just wanna keep getting better, keep learning the guys, keep learning the offense, keep learning the principles, just ready to make this push. Ready to make this run.”

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Sixers send Patrick Beverley to Bucks for Cam Payne, 2nd-round pick

The Philadelphia 76ers sent Patrick Beverley to the Milwaukee Bucks for Cam Payne and a 2027 second-round pick.

The Philadelphia 76ers are not done dealing. After acquiring Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers and sending Danuel House Jr. to the Detroit Pistons, the Sixers have made a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Sixers sent veteran Patrick Beverley to the Bucks for Cam Payne and a 2027 second-round pick. Beverley was signed as a free agent in the offseason and averaged 6.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists for the Sixers off the bench. Payne is averaging 6.2 points and shooting 39.7% from deep for the Bucks.

Beverley did many good things for the Sixers, but he reunites with Doc Rivers, who was his coach with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Payne will take over the backup ballhandler’s role for Philadelphia. He’s reliable, and he can knock down an open look from deep. This is another solid move by the Sixers.

Everything we know about the Giannis Antetokounmpo game ball drama, the silliest sports saga of the year

This was all such a massive misunderstanding.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a career-high 64 points during a victory over the Indiana Pacers, then chaos ensued.

According to league insider Chris Haynes, the Pacers “took the game ball away” after the performance from the two-time MVP. Antetokounmpo then “took off” toward the Pacers locker room to try to retrieve the ball back from the franchise he had just defeated.

But there is more to the story and plenty to unpack with this situation.

So we did our best to gather all the information and put that together in a way that will make some sense.

Based on the reporting we have gathered, here is everything we know:

NBA Twitter reacts to Cam Payne signing with Bucks: ‘Milwaukee making moves’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Bucks signing Cam Payne to a one-year deal.

Cameron Payne has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, per Shams Charania.

This latest development in the Association comes a couple of hours after the Boston Celtics landed Jrue Holiday via a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, and the reactions were plenty.

The Bucks moved for Payne — who will be Damian Lillard’s backup in the point guard position. Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the latest signing in the league.

What does the Cam Payne traded about San Antonio’s priorities?

The Spurs are flush with expiring contracts and extra draft picks. What is San Antonio up to?

When the San Antonio Spurs landed veteran guard Cameron Payne in a recent trade with the Phoenix Suns, the team wasn’t just bringing in a reliable ball-handler. In fact, the move accomplished two key goals, and serves as a good peek at the priorities for this Spurs front office. Payne helps stabilize the guard rotation, but also represents yet another valuable asset for the future.

San Antonio’s most important move this summer was, of course, the drafting of French phenom Victor Wembanyama. And indeed the 19-year-old will be the focal point of the team for years to come, meaning there’s no major pressure to make a splash in the next year or two. That said, the Spurs also extended 74-year-old head coach Gregg Popovich this offseason and many of the teams moves have been centered around maximizing future flexibility. Could San Antonio be angling to make a splash sooner rather than later?

KENS 5 analysts Tom Petrini and Casey Viera recently spoke about the Payne trade and what it means for the club. As Petrini noted, San Antonio has almost $70 million in expiring contracts on the books to pair with a number of extra future draft picks. The Spurs are sitting pretty should any opportunities arise.

Check out the full conversation, courtesy of KENS 5 on YouTube.

Spurs land guard Cam Payne in trade with Suns

Cameron “Haboob” Payne is being traded to the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs have acquired veteran point guard Cameron Payne from the Phoenix Suns in a trade, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. San Antonio will receive Payne, a future second-round pick, and financial compensation in exchange for an outgoing future second-round pick to complete the deal.

Payne’s $6.5 million contract was guaranteed by Phoenix this June, and he is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. A little undersized at 6-foot-1, Payne uses his speed, craftiness, and tenacity to his advantage and was a major player for Phoenix during the team’s trip to the NBA Finals in 2021. The veteran point guard averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 assists in a bench role with the Suns during the 2022-23 campaign.

Phoenix made several transactions Sunday morning. The team acquired more draft capital in a move with the Orlando Magic and also signed big man Bol Bol. As contenders like the Suns have reimagined their rosters ahead of next season, San Antonio has been a helpful and willing partner, landing valuable pieces and players in the process.

Cam Payne scores career-high in crazy Suns win over Clippers

Former Thunder guard Cam Payne had a career game in the Suns’ win over the Clippers, but Paul George’s free throw struggles cost LA dearly.

The game will rightfully be remembered for Deandre Ayton’s winning alley-oop on an inbounds play with 0.7 seconds left, but the Phoenix Suns had contributors from all around the rotation in the Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Perhaps no player was bigger than guard Cam Payne, a former Oklahoma City Thunder player who started in place of Chris Paul, in COVID-19 protocols for the second game in a row.

Payne scored a career-high and game-best 29 points on 12-for-24 shooting, helping lead the Suns with Paul out and guard Devin Booker struggling to break free of the immense pressure from the Los Angeles defense.

Payne had 16 points in the first half to give the Suns a one-point lead at the break and then scored 13 in the final two quarters. He also had nine assists, two steals and two blocks in the game.

Booker scored 20 points on just 5-for-16 shooting, and had to come out to receive stitches after his and Patrick Beverley’s heads collided during a play.

But Booker shined through when it mattered, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead shot with 27 seconds to play.

Former Clippers wing Paul George immediately answered, hitting a jumper less than five seconds later to retake the lead.

Beverley forced a turnover on Booker on the next play. Beverley batted the ball out of bounds, but Booker’s hand was touching the ball on his dribble down after Beverley swatted at it, so it was out on Booker.

At this point, the Clippers led by a point with less than 10 seconds to play. George received the inbounds pass and was fouled.

However, George missed both free throws. He finished the game with 26 points but made only five of his 10 free throw attempts, more misses than he has had from the line in any one game since he played for the Indiana Pacers.

After an errant 3-point shot by Mikal Bridges was tipped out of bounds by Terance Mann, who was fighting for the board, Ayton won the game with an alley-oop off an inbounds pass from Jae Crowder.

The Suns took a 2-0 series lead, and now Paul could return for Game 3. If he can, the former Thunder star will try to take a 3-0 lead and get within a game of his first NBA Finals.

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Free agency stock watch: Norman Powell, Montrezl Harrell, Bryn Forbes, Duncan Robinson

With the NBA playoffs underway, the biggest stars are playing under the brightest lights to separate themselves before the free agency market opens this offseason. 

With the NBA playoffs underway, the biggest stars are playing under the brightest lights to separate themselves before the free agency market opens this offseason.

Of course, executives around the league always have tough decisions to make about who they plan to re-sign as well as who they plan to pursue or let walk during free agency. But with postseason play, some of those hard choices are becoming easier to make.

As part of our ongoing series at HoopsHype, we are looking at whose free agency stock has gone up – and down – over the last several games.