Homecoming: Elfrid Payton agrees to one-year deal with Pelicans

The Pelicans have reached a deal with point guard Elfrid Payton on a one-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Elfrid Payton has agreed to a deal with the Pelicans, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2018

Payton, an unrestricted free agent, is a New Orleans area native who prepped at John Ehret and played college ball at UL Lafayette.

The 24-year old was traded sent to Suns during this past season by the Magic. Payton has spent his previous three-plus seasons in Orlando as their former first round draft choice.

A former National Defensive Player of the Year with the Ragin’ Cajuns, Payton has yet to have the same success defensively in the NBA. However, he continues to be a solid distributor at lead guard. Payton has career averages of 11.2 points on 45.7 percent shooting along with 6.4 rebounds and 4.2 rebounds.