Timberwolves 2016 Year in Review: Front Court Reserves
Adreian Payne
Playing time: 8.8 minutes a game (10 games)
Scoring: 8th (4.8)
Rebounds: 11th (1.8)
Assist: Tied for 11th (0.4)
Steals: tied for 10th (0.4)
Effective FG%: 8th (47.4%)
Adreian “pick-n-pop’ Payne isn’t a guy whose asked to do a whole lot on the offensive end and would be considered a pure stretch-four in the NBA. Like Nemanja Bjelica, he spends a lot of his time around the perimeter.
Differing from Bjelica, Payne’s main job is to set screens and roll to any open areas, mainly along the three-point line. He also can come off the screen and roll to the basket, where he’s finished eight of 17 attempts from within 10 feet of the basket. His limited minutes is a direct result of his limited skill set, and, quite frankly, he may not be in the NBA in a couple of years due to his lack of versatility.
What he does well
Shoots the ball (for a big man) and allows the offense to space the floor. Payne does a good job setting screens and rolling either to the perimeter or finding open areas on the floor to get off a jumper.
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Occasionally, Payne will roll to the rim off the screen where he showcases the ability to either feed a teammate inside or finish for a dunk or layup. Limited abilities on the defensive end hasn’t stopped his effort which shows up in his defensive rating, which we’ll talk more about later.
What he doesn’t do well
Payne does not possess an inside presence on either end of the court. He simply is not a threat in the post offensively as he settles for jump shots 68 percent of the time.
Defensively, he is a bit of a tweener in that he isn’t quick enough and doesn’t have the body control to guard the perimeter and isn’t strong enough to guard most big men in the post. Payne has a very limited skill set which limits the offense and which lineups you can use with him.
Impact on team
Payne hasn’t had a major impact overall on the team so far this season with only playing in 10 games at an average of 8 minutes per contest.
When he’s on the floor, he’s posting an offensive rating of 104 and a defensive rating of 107. To further the point on how much he hurts the offense, when he’s on the court, the Timberwolves offensive rating drops to 99.4 and goes up to 109.3 when he’s on the bench. Teams are scoring at a rate of 115.3 when Payne is in the game as oppose to 110.8 when he’s not. Payne’s -2.6 plus/minus per 100 possessions ranks him at 9th on the team and 10th in win shares at 0.2.