Los Angeles Clippers guard Ben Simmons (25) looks on during the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at Intuit Dome with Stephen A Smith in the background
Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
The Sacramento Kings must've had a goal in the offseason of making major changes to their guard room, and it looks like they've accomplished. It also seems like they didn't want any kind of guards, but they wanted all lottery-pick guards. After drafting Darius Acuff Jr. and recently signing Ben Simmons, the Kings have added Elfrid Payton, according to Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.
“The Sacramento Kings and Elfrid Payton have agreed to a deal, Senior VP of CSETalent Darrell Comer told Hoopshype. He’ll compete for a roster spot. Kings GM Scott Perry and Payton were together with the Magic and Knicks. He’s averaged 9.8 points and 5.8 assists in nine seasons,” Scotto wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Payton was selected No. 10 by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft but was traded to the Orlando Magic. Throughout his career, Payton has been known more as table setter, getting his teammates involved and getting to the basket. The Kings could use more of that in their guard room along Simmons, and he can be another veteran that helps Acuff.
One stain in Payton's game is his 3-point shooting, and it'll be interesting to see how the Kings work him in the lineup, as well as Simmons, who hasn't taken many 3-pointers in his career as well. Nonetheless, the Kings can say they have a solid guard room going into the season, and there's already excitement surrounding what they can do.
Some of that excitement has come from Simmons, who has made his way to Sacramento already and preparing for the season.
“An excited Ben…he's healthy. He took a year off to get healthy, and they list him at guard. They want him to back up Darius Acuff and he's already in Sacramento getting ready for next season,” Marc Spears said on NBA Today.