I froze when the reports first came out last week that the Phoenix Suns had targeted Elfrid Payton to a contract.
Elfrid Payton? Really?
The Elfrid Payton who was once a promising young player on the post-Dwight Orlando Magic, but then dumped on the Suns for a second-round pick as he approached restricted free agency?
The 23-year old Elfrid Payton who posted a pair of triple doubles in spring 2018 with a talent-starved Suns team, but was quietly released a month later?
Maybe that’s because the Suns lost 18 of the 19 games Payton played in the spring of 2018, despite him averaging 11.