You know, with that ridiculous hair precipice gone, it’s a lot easier for me to treat Elfrid Payton as a serious NBA player worthy of serious consideration and serious opinions. Back when he had that “poodle sucked through a vacuum” look going, I couldn’t take him seriously. Now my opinions of him, which were previously half-baked due to his unwise hairstyle choices, are fully-baked.
That’s actually a lie. My opinions about Elfrid Payton don’t extend very far. Since I haven’t ever had any desire to watch any of the teams that he’s been on before (the Pelicans this season are by far the most compelling team that Payton has been involved with), my opinions are mainly sourced from the highlight videos I make of him, videos which make it seem like he has a solid jumpshot and brilliant court vision. Oh yeah, I also go back to posts on various Orlando Magic forums to witness first-hand how tired of Payton they were at times, how much they hated his shooting and how much they despised his floppy, vision-obstructing hair monstrosity.
I suppose Payton is not the worst consolation prize in the world after the Pelicans lost a surprisingly-important Rajon Rondo. Like Rondo, Payton is not really a jumpshooter, but, unlike Rondo, he’s actually willing to score the ball at times. Early returns for Payton being a competent Rondo replacement were positive (the Pelicans won their first four straight with Payton starting), so if the trend continues, maybe the Pelicans can actually achieve a win-loss records that represents the total value of talent they have on their roster, which is a lot.