Toronto Raptors: The full Cameron Payne scouting report

What he needs to work on

To this point, Payne has been in the NBA without showing NBA-level production. If he wants to make what is turning into a crowded roster, he’ll need to make significant improvements in a few areas.

Most importantly, he needs to find an area of the floor he can score from effectively. Throughout his career, Payne has shot the ball poorly at the rim, from the mid-range, and from beyond the arc. If you’re not able to score from one of the three levels on the floor effectively, it’s really hard to be even a solid role-player in the NBA.

If the limited three-point improvement he has shown is real, that will go a long way towards his development. If it is just a result of small sample size, he’ll need to show the ability to score at least one other area of the court.

On the other end of the court, Payne  needs to use his skillset to become an effective defensive player, rather than just a noticeable one.

He’s too thin and weak to switch effectively, he has an incredibly high foul-rate without generating a ton of steals, and he makes multiple mental mistakes, often losing his man or finding himself out of position.

Throughout his career, teams have been significantly worse defensively with Payne on the court as opposed to when he was off.  Considering his offensive limitations, Cam will need to start providing at least some value defensively if he wants to find his way into the rotation.