The Chicago Bulls are preparing to give new acquisition Cameron Payne every chance to make the point guard position his own.
After dealing Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson to Oklahoma City to get Payne, it was made pretty clear that the Bulls are essentially ready to hand the keys over to the 22-year old.
Thunder strengthens bench immensely. Was a major problem with Kanter out. Bulls will give Payne every shot to become a starting lead guard.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 23, 2017
The Thunder also felt very strongly about Payne, but simply accepted that he was blocked for the foreseeable future by Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder believe Payne is going to be a big time player, but playing behind Westbrook, wouldn't develop into the player he's capable of.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) February 23, 2017
This may end up being a deal that benefits both teams. The Thunder got some help for their playoff push, while Chicago has a point guard that they hope they can build around. It’s also a pretty blatant admission that the Rajon Rondo experiment did not work at all. If Payne develops like the Bulls think he can, they may have just made a really savvy move.
