.@Elfrid 🔨🔨🔨🔨 https://t.co/vxDY8HngvK
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) January 15, 2017
When an Orlando Magic player shows off their ability to sky, it’s usually Aaron Gordon. But on Saturday night against the Utah Jazz, Elfrid Payton showed that he’s also capable of highlight reel-caliber dunks every now and then.
Payton was being guarded by Dante Exum just over the halfcourt line. The Magic guard crossed the ball over to his left hand and took off towards the rim, blowing by the Jazz’s guard with a relatively clear path to the rim.
Both Rudy Gobert and Boris Diaw saw this and tried to contest Payton as he went up towards the rim, but it ended up being all for naught. Payton put the ball in his right hand and elevated towards the hoop, looking effortless as he eventually made it to the rim and scored two points with a big time jam.
Payton’s big concern has always been his ability to score the basketball. He’s not an especially good shooter, but other than that, Payton has the exact skill set you’d want out of a point guard – good ball handler, good passer, stingy defender, comes in at right around 6’4. Really, if he can ever start scoring consistently, he’s going to make a team really happy. And if he can’t hit jumpers, at least he can just blow by people and get buckets by dunking.