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2016 NBA Draft Sleeper: Oregon State’s Gary Payton II

By Michael Whitlow

Mar 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Gary Payton II (1) passes against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard JeQuan Lewis (1) in the first half during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oregon State Beavers guard Gary Payton II (1) passes against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard JeQuan Lewis (1) in the first half during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Earlier this week, we profiled North Carolina’s Brice Johnson as a potential sleeper pick for the Chicago Bulls in the 2016 NBA Draft. For this profile, we’ll look at a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year: Oregon State senior Gary Payton II.

Before you question yourself, yes … Gary Payton II is the son of former Seattle Supersonics guard and Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s take a look at the younger (and left-handed) Payton.

As mentioned earlier in the week when discussing North Carolina’s Brice Johnson as a potential second-round sleeper pick for the Chicago Bulls if he’s available, the Bulls have two picks in the 2016 NBA Draft (No. 14 and 48).

Currently, DraftExpress has the Bulls drafting Payton II with the No. 48 picks. (Mind you, DX’s mock selections are more about who can fill each franchise’s needs.)

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If the Bulls were to select Payton II with the 48th pick, they’d be getting a potential gem for a couple reasons.

Explosiveness

The first thing (well, first two things) that jumped out at me when watching Gary Payton II was his size (6’3″ with a 6’8″ wingspan measurement at the 2016 NBA Draft Combine) and his ability to bounce right off the floor.

Along with his NBA size as a floor general, Payton II’s ability to get off the floor and attack the basket is fun to watch. He’s a wonderful athlete that might even feel like a poor man’s Derrick Rose (before the knee issues) to some.

Watch this dunk against Kansas from this past season. (His explosiveness off two feet for the slam is ridiculous.)

Along with his elite jumping ability at the rim, he’s a tremendous rebounder for a guard (9.3 rebounds per 40 minutes, according to DX) and has no problem crashing the glass from the perimeter among the bigger players on the floor.

(Grown man) Strength

When you watch his “strengths” breakdown from DX’s Mike Schmitz, you have to watch this specific play. I honestly ran this play back three times because I was impressed.

Other than exploding at the rim, Payton is strong enough at 184 pounds to take contact at the basket and finishing the play out for a tough finish like he did here against VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament back in March.

I’m not calling him Russell Westbrook by any means, but in terms of his physical tools and play when the pace picks up, he certainly has a Westbrookian game with a ton of energy and excitement at times.

More bulls: Michigan State's Denzel Valentine

The concerns about his game come from the fact that…

…he’s a good, but not great passer (5.9 assists per 40, which ranks in the middle of the pack of DX’s top 100 prospects for this draft, along with not being a prolific shooter at all (shot 31 percent in the half-court this past season).

At the rim, Payton II is superb (with a 65 percent(!) conversion rate).

In the mid-range and beyond, not so much (a 27 percent make rate on floaters).

That’s where the Westbrook reference comes from. You’re going to get good and bad with Payton II on both ends of the floor. He’s not the passer (or shooter) you’d like to see, especially being a 23-year-old senior already. He’ll take chances, which is partly why he averaged 2.5 steals per contest last season and won back-to-back defensive POY awards in the Pac-12 Conference.

But, he can relax too often defensively for a lead guard and has plenty areas of his game to where he could improve (shot-creating, ball-handling, etc.) moving forward.

More bulls: 2016 NBA Draft: Kentucky's Tyler Ulis

Why the Bulls should consider Gary Payton II:

This would feel like an easy selection if the Bulls address the front court with the 14th overall pick later this month.

If the Bulls go the route of a big man at 14 (Gonzaga’s Domantas Sabonis, Marquette’s Henry Ellenson, Michigan State’s Deyonta Davis, etc.), grabbing a guard with their second pick (if no trades are made) would be a wise move.

The concerns about Payton II are his inability to shoot from the perimeter and not always giving a fair effort defensively are there. Those can be fixed over time and with repetitions in practice and in a prominent role with the new Windy City Bulls franchise in the D-League potentially.

The selection of Payton II wouldn’t be to replace Derrick Rose immediately. Rose still has one more year left on his current deal, along with other veteran guards like Justin Holiday and E’Twaun Moore that can hold things down behind him.

Next: 2016 NBA Draft: Providence's Kris Dunn

With time and patience from the Bulls, Gary Payton II could develop into a great piece for the Bulls’ future. He’s a gifted athlete that’s certainly a project, but comes with upside and a NBA pedigree that could translate into a possible steal for the Bulls in the second round of this month’s draft.

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