As the Sacramento Kings progress through their preseason, they do have roster decisions to make. One of them is what to do with Elfrid Payton, who is currently on a non-guaranteed contract. The Kings need to lock that in, not just because of his fit but also what could happen with Ben Simmons.
The Kings have made it very clear that their intentions are to run with rookie Darius Acuff as their starting point guard. His Summer League performance raised some red flags, but his preseason performance so far has shut that talk down. The best way to put it is that Acuff is legit.
Drafting him raised a whole new problem, though. After trading Devin Carter, cutting Killian Hayes, and losing Russell Westbrook to retirement, Acuff was suddenly the only straight up point guard the Kings had. His only backup was Malik Monk and two-way player Adam Flagler.
To mitigate this issue, Sacramento chose to bring Ben Simmons back to the NBA on a veteran minimum contract. It's a headline-grabbing move, without question. But it also comes with some risks. Specifically, if any of Simmons' old health issues return and keep him off the court.
Payton is basically Ben Simmons insurance
It's kind of rude to reduce a player of Payton's caliber to the concept of being an insurance policy on Simmons getting injured. That's also exactly what the Kings need from him. If Sacramento suddenly finds themselves short one Simmons, they have someone who can back Acuff up effectively.
More than that, Payton is better suited to be a mentor to Acuff than Simmons is. The rookie needs someone to help him figure out the NBA and his place in it. Payton is exactly that guy. The more you think about it, the more formalizing his place on the Kings makes sense.
Payton is on a one-year, non-guaranteed training camp contract, aka an Exhibit 9 contract. He's kind of on the roster, but not in a permanent fashion. An Exhibit 9 can't be converted to a G League contract, so the Kings would have to give him their last main roster spot if they want to keep him.
Hopefully, that's what will happen. Acuff already looks good but needs support, and no one knows how this Simmons/Kings situationship is going to pan out. Payton is insurance in case either Simmons or Acuff get injured. He's someone who can support both players in almost any scenario.
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