Cameron Payne

Cameron Payne (born August 8, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Murray State.

Payne attended Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew from 5'5' as a freshman to 6'0 as a senior. Despite leading Lausanne Collegiate to a 2013 Division II state title in Tennessee, Payne was not a heavily scouted player by collegiate programs. He was considered to be a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and was not ranked in the top 100 prospects. He was recruited by William Small to play college basketball at Murray State, choosing the Racers over a few other schools. Payne then went from a little-known college recruit to a potential NBA lottery pick.

As a freshman, Payne averaged 16.8 points, 5.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. He was forced to start at point guard as a freshman due to an injury to Zay Jackson, and began his collegiate career registering 21 points, five boards and four assists at in the team's opener at Valparaiso. Payne wound up earning first-team All-OVC honors and was named freshman of the year by the conference. As a sophomore, he was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after he averaged 20.2 points, 6.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Payne opted to declare for the NBA Draft after his sophomore season.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2015–present)

2015–16 season

During workouts prior to the NBA draft, Payne broke the ring finger on his non-shooting hand. The injury did not require surgery. On June 25, 2015 Payne was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 14th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. On July 10, 2015, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Thunder. He made his debut for the Thunder on November 1 in a 117–93 win over the Denver Nuggets, recording three assists in four minutes. On December 5, he was assigned to the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder's D-League affiliate. He was recalled on December 6, reassigned on December 15, and recalled again on December 16. On December 29, he had a 16-point effort in a 131–123 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. In the Thunder's regular season finale on April 12, 2016, Payne recorded career highs of 17 points and seven assists in a 102–98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

2016–17 season

On July 25, 2016, Payne underwent a successful procedure to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot. He recovered quickly and was cleared to practice when training camp opened. He went through full contact during the Thunder's first two days of practice, but on September 27, he suffered an acute fracture to his fifth metatarsal in the team's Blue-White Scrimmage. As a result, he missed the first two months of the 2016–17 season. After spending six days with the Oklahoma City Blue in early January, Payne joined the Thunder playing group for the first time in 2016–17 on January 7. He subsequently made his season debut that night, scoring eight points in 13 minutes against the Denver Nuggets.

Regular season

Playoffs