Knicks Washout Set For Triumphant Return

The end of Elfrid Payton’s New York Knicks career was anything but a Big Easy.

Now stationed with the New Orleans Pelicans, Payton is set to return to Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening (6 p.m. ET, MSG). It’ll be the first time on Manhattan hardwood since his time with the Knicks came to an unceremonious end, one that set the stage for an ongoing comeback story.

Payton is back in the NBA after two full years off and is now the star attraction on a medically-decimated Pelicans group. Amidst New Orleans’ ongoing woes, Payton has reintroduced himself to the Association with strong playmaking abilities that stand to extend his professional endeavors. Of note, Payton dished out a career-best 21 assists in a Monday loss to Indiana. He and Trae Young are the only two players to earn a double-decade of helpers so far in this young NBA campaign.

“I believed the opportunity would come. It was longer than I thought or expected, but that ain’t the point,” Payton said, per William Guillory of The Athletic. “(There were) some days when I felt like all the work was for nothing. But I had to find ways to keep going. If you really have a passion for the game and a love for the game, you’ve got to find a way to push through.”

A 2014 entrant, Payton joined the Knicks in 2019. While struggling to live up to his top 10 billing out of Louisiana, Payton had historic flashes of brilliance: in a prior stint with the Pelicans, Payton notably notched five consecutive triple-doubles. Such a brotherhood included only Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Russell Westbrook.

Payton signed with the Knicks in 2019 as the rebuilding New Yorkers sought to solve long-standing issues at the point guard spot. He was enough of a silver lining during the ensuing COVID-shortened campaign to retain such duties in year one of the Tom Thibodeau era but his minutes dwindled as the Knicks closed in on a playoff spot. They vanished entirely after the first two postseason games against the Atlanta Hawks, as Payton earned the dreaded “DNP-CD” initials in his box score in the latter portions of the five-game quarterfinal.

With his place in New York removed and the Knicks’ prayers at point guard finally answered by Jalen Brunson, Payton found a 50-game opportunity in Phoenix but struggled to impress. Stints in Australia and Puerto Rico sandwiched a relative loyalty to the Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate in Fort Wayne but another NBA opportunity appeared to be an increasingly remote possibility.

But, finally granted that opportunity in New Orleans, Payton is taking every advantage. It could well come to a crashing end fairly soon.

Foundering in the dregs of the Western Conference, New Orleans (4-16) might have help on the way, but it could come at the cost of Payton: several of its injured headliners are reportedly due back soon and that could make Payton’s transformed contract into a guaranteed deal in January primary waiver wire fodder as they seek to avoid the restrictive clutches of the luxury tax and salary aprons.

That’s going to make the coming sessions meaning everything to Payton, who knows how quickly such a chance can vanish.

I really stopped thinking about it as me writing my story. It’s God writing my story,” Payton said, per Guillory. “I made it eight years in the league. Most people would kill for that. If it ended after eight years, most people would kill to have an NBA career that long. If this is it, this is it. I’m more proud of this than anything I’ve ever accomplished. But the journey is far from over.”

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