SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs announced on Monday that they have waived veteran point guard Cameron Payne.
Payne, 29, was acquired by the team on July 17, along with a 2025 second-round pick (via New Orleans) and cash from the Phoenix Suns, in exchange for a protected second-round pick in 2024.
Recommended Videos
The move will help enable the Spurs to meet the NBA’s roster requirements. While the team is allowed to take 21 players to training camp, they are still only allowed 15 fully guaranteed players on the roster at the start of the season. The team will still have to make additional moves.
The Spurs have several young guards already on the roster that they intend to develop, which left Payne expendable. Point guard Tre Jones re-signed in the offseason and the previous drafting of Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley also did not leave a lot of minutes available.
Payne also, however, reportedly did not endear himself to Silver and Black fans in his short time with the team, as he previously posted on social media wishing he was still in Phoenix.
"I miss Phoenix already... They trynna win the chip and I respect it. I feel like they could've won a chip with me tho."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 10, 2023
Cam Payne on wanting to help the Suns win a championship on his IG Live 🫠 pic.twitter.com/BOM49OaqcM
If he’s not claimed on waivers by another team, he’ll be free to sign with anyone in the league, likely with a projected contender as a free agent.
ESPN Stats & Information research said during the Suns’ 2021 NBA Finals run, Payne started for an injured Chris Paul and had an average of 20 points and nine assists. He also had a 31-point performance in Game 6 of the 2023 Western Conference semifinals, against the Denver Nuggets.
The former No. 14 overall selection in the 2015 NBA draft, he averaged 10.3 points and 4.5 assists in 48 games for the Suns last season.
He’s also played with Oklahoma City, Chicago and Cleveland in his career.