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LB Big Board: Cameron Payne Grabs 13th

As the Liberty Ballers Big Board creeps towards the end of the lottery, options and voting are scattered, as Murray State's Cameron Payne pulls out the 13th spot with 20% of the vote.

Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The voting for the Liberty Ballers Big Board now begins to muddy, as Cameron Payne out of Murray State received just 20% of the vote over the weekend with very few percentage points separating him from similar late-lottery-to-mid-first prospects like Trey Lyles (16%), Devin Booker (14%), Kevon Looney (13%) and Jerian Grant (11%).

This seems like a scenario where the consensus' favorite, lottery-guaranteed prospects like Justise Winslow, Mario Hezonja and Stanley Johnson are now off the board, leaving a ton of leeway for the LB readers to rifle through the field and make a decision likely based on who's college games or Draft Express videos they watched most intently.

Payne is fine choice at 13th though. I'm fairly high on him and did a pseudo-scouting report on the the point guard two weeks ago when I picked him for the Pacers in the Liberty Ballers mock draft. Here's an excerpt from that article:

Cameron Payne out of Murray State is the latest in now what seems like the annual rise of a mid-major point guard up big boards and mock drafts, the same way Elfrid Payton and Damian Lillard did in years prior on their way to becoming top-10 selections. The chart below illustrates how Payne, along with the two and the Murray State Racers point guard Payne succeeded, Sixers gunner Isaiah Canaan, fared during their sophomore seasons:

Player Year School MP TS% FTr 3PAr P/40 R/40 A/40
Damian Lillard 2009-10 Weber State 1062 .594 .445 .499 23.2 4.7 4.2
Isaiah Canaan 2010-11 Murray State 900 .571 .465 .535 16.7 2.7 3.4
Elfrid Payton 2012-13 Louisiana-Lafayette 1171 .532 .533 .127 17.9 6.3 6.2
Cameron Payne 2014-15 Murray State 1127 .573 .315 .415 25.1 4.6 7.4

The rest of that piece is filled with campaign/campayne jokes and reworked lyrics to Cam'ron's "Hey Ma," a true Liberty Ballers anthem.

As for where the voting goes from here, I'll take Kevon Looney. He has top-10 talent. He knocked down 41.5% of his threes, though that came on just 53 attempts, while spending time at the power forward spot on an undersized and underachieving UCLA squad. Standing 6'9" with a 7'3.5" wingspan, he possesses the length necessary to guard multiple positions defensively and spend time both on the perimeter and down low offensively, versatility needed in a league where small-ball lineups are increasingly prevalent. 

Looney does have asthma unfortunately, a condition that will likely keep him out of the lottery now despite his top-14 status all season long, but with a lack of clear contributors at this point in the draft, gambling on Looney would make sense and also fit the 76ers' mold.

With voting still scattered, I won't add another player to the plethora of options still available. Let us know if you think any other players should be though.

Vote or Die.

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