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You forget that in Cameron Payne’s short career, though he’s been mostly awful, he’s also been injured a lot. His troublesome foot issues have cropped up again this offseason, as just reported by Shams Charania of The Vertical:
Bulls guard Cameron Payne will undergo surgery on his right foot and be sidelined until late November, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 30, 2017
Yes, it’s the same foot that hindered him last season. From, uh, Payne’s Wikipedia:
On July 25, 2016, Payne underwent a successful procedure to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot. He went through full contact during the Thunder's first two days of practice, but on September 27, he suffered an acute fracture to his fifth metatarsal in the team's Blue-White Scrimmage. As a result, he missed the first two months of the 2016–17 season.
And as we know he was traded mid-way through that season to the Bulls. You could say it it was an awful, horrible trade, but you could be of the opinion that all trades are actually part of some perfectly elastic market and said market dictates all trade returns and aren’t the fault of the people making the trades.
Payne was terrible as a Bull, then we were told after the season by GarPax that he just needed to ‘get in our building’, then he had a woeful time in summer league before leaving for personal reasons, and now this.
Payne’s contract is guaranteed for this year, but the Bulls have until 10/31 to pick up his 2018-19 option for $3.26M.