No Payne, no gain for Bulls in post-Thibs era

Cam Payne (second from left) walks back to the bench after a time out during the Bulls' game against the Magic in Orlando on March 8, 2017.

The Bulls thought they had something when they acquired guard Cameron Payne from the Thunder in the 2017 deal that sent Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to Oklahoma City. And they kind of did. They just couldn’t get it out of him. 

Payne was a 2015 first-round draft pick (No. 14 overall) who was getting limited playing time behind All-Star Russell Westbrook. Bulls general manager Gar Forman saw an opportunity to find a hidden gem — kind of like the Blackhawks acquiring goaltender Spencer Knight, a 2019 first-round draft pick (No. 13 overall) who was playing behind Sergei Bobrovsky with the Panthers. Forman was all in — trading Gibson and McDermott and calling Payne the “point guard of the future.” 

It never worked out in his three seasons with the Bulls under Fred Hoiberg. Payne averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 assists in 67 games before he was cut in January of 2019. In Payne’s 26 starts, the Bulls were 6-20. (For what it's worth, Knight already has provided more hope for the Blackhawks than Payne ever did for the Bulls.)

Despite their big plans for Payne, he never really found a role with the Bulls. I was covering the Bulls late in the 2016-17 season, and asked media relations if I could talk to Payne — he had just scored 14 points in 22 minutes against the Pistons in his fifth game with the Bulls — and the media relations rep wanted to know why, which seemed kind of strange thing to ask about the “point guard of the future.” 

Anyway, the issue from the start was playing time. “He has to play more,” Bulls guard Dwyane Wade said at the time. “I think everyone wants to see him get comfortable. We’ve all seen he’s not afraid to shoot. He’s aggressive. He’s a three-point shooter. He doesn’t lack confidence at all. 

“As he continues to get comfortable with his role and his role is expanded, we’ll all get a chance to see what the young guy can be.” 

Payne is not exactly the one that got away. But he has become a serviceable — sometimes valuable — reserve/pinch starter for the Suns, Bucks, 76ers and Knicks since leaving the Bulls. And every so often he makes a big enough wave in the playoffs to remind Bulls fans that he’s a better player than he ever was with the Bulls. 

It happened again Saturday, when the Knicks were in trouble against the underdog Pistons in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Madison Square Garden — down 96-88 early in the fourth quarter. Coach Tom Thibodeau — who unlike Payne at least did some of his best work for the Bulls — turned to Payne and Payne delivered. He scored 11 points, including a three-point play and back-to-back three-pointers to spark a 21-0 run that turned a 98-90 deficit into a 111-98 lead with 4:49 left in the fourth quarter.

For Thibs, it seemed to take him back to the days of the “Bench Mob” with the 2010-11 Bulls, when Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson, C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver and Omer Asik gave the Bulls a spark off the bench — more in the regular season than in the playoffs, but still …

“The thing about him, he knows exactly who he is,” Thibodeau told reporters. “He comes in with great energy every game, carries himself well each and every day. He gave us a huge spark, that’s been who he is.” 

Payne is largely forgotten in Chicago. It’s almost like he was never here. He typifies the Bulls’ wayward path since firing Thibodeau that to this day leaves them struggling to find their way back to playoff contention.