Former Men’s Basketball: Ex-Cajun Payton named a Rising Star again

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, January 27, 2016

 

Former UL and current Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton has been picked to play in his second straight Rising Stars Challenge game.(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

 

 

Former UL point guard Elfrid Payton of the Orlando Magic was picked Wednesday to play for a second straight year in the Rising Stars Challenge, a major honor for young NBA talent.

The game will be played at Air Canada Centre in Toronto as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, the league announced.

TNT will televise the game live at 8 p.m. (central) on Feb. 12.

Participants are selected via league-wide voting by NBA assistant coaches, and for a second consecutive year the game will be played in a U.S. vs. the World format.

Only rookie and sophomore NBA players are eligible to take part.

Payton is averaging 11.2 points and 5.9 assists per game in 40 games this season for the 20-24 Magic.

The John Ehret High product from the New Orleans area played three seasons at UL and led the Ragin’ Cajuns to the 2014 NCAA Tournament, after which he was picked 10th overall in the NBA Draft.

Last season, Payton averaged 8.9 points  and 6.5 assists per game as an NBA rookie.

Reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins of the Minnesota Timberwolves and teammate Karl-Anthony Towns, who has won two straight NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards, also are among the 20 players chosen.

The New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis, who has won two straight NBA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards, joins Toronto-born Wiggins on the World team.

A third member of the Timberwolves, 2015 NBA All-Star dunk champion Zach LaVine, joins Payton and Towns on the U.S. team.

Towns, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, is one of three NBA players averaging at least 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks this season, along New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and Chicao’s Pau Gasol.

Also on the U.S. squad: Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, who leads all rookies in scoring (17.4 ppg), and Sixers teammate Nerlens Noel, along with Los Angeles Lakers teammates Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell, Rodney Hood (Utah), Jabari Parker (Milwaukee) and Marcus Smart (Boston).

Wiggins, who ranks 15th in NBA scoring at 20.8 points per game, scored 22 points and earned MVP honors in the World’s 121-112 win over the U.S. last year.

Also on the world team: Dwight Powell (Dallas), Bojan Bogdanovic (Brooklyn), Clint Capela (Houston), Mario Hezonja (Orlando), Nikola Jokic and Emmanuel Mudiay (Denver), Nikola Mirotic (Chicago) and Raul Neto (Utah).