Biography of Cameron Payne [Age, Height, Family, Achievements, Girlfriend & Salary]

Equally important, their whole family is basketball-crazy. Payne’s older brother Tony Jr. was also a point guard and played at Lane College, a Division II school in Jackson, Tennessee.

Furthermore, his father, Tony Sr., also used to be a point guard in high school; later, he served as an AAU coach for years.

Cameron Payne | Education and Early Career

High School

Payne attended Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee. During his sophomore years, he was 5’5′ but later grew up to be 6’0′ until his senior days.

During his tenure in Lausanne, he led them to a 2013 Division II state title in Tennessee and won the 2A Private School championship. Moreover, he was titled Mr. Basketball, with averages of 20 points and 10 assists per game.

Lausanne Collegiate School

Despite all these, he wasn’t a heavily scouted player by collegiate programs. Although he was not ranked in the top 100 prospects, he was a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

Later, he was recruited by the coach William Small to play college basketball at Murray State, which transformed him from a little-known college recruit to a potential NBA lottery pick.

College

Payne commenced his freshman years as a point guard as Zay Jackson was on the injured list. During his foremost years, he had an average of 16.8 points, 5.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.

Following it, Payne began his collegiate career in the team’s opener at Valparaiso as he recorded an average of 21 points, five boards, and four assists.

At the same time, he earned his first-team All-OVC honors and was named freshman of the year by the conference.

Payne averaged 20.2 points for his sophomore season, 6.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game thus, bagging the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. After it, Cameron opted to declare for the NBA Draft on April 4.

Cameron Payne | Professional Career

Oklahoma City Thunder

2015–16 season

Oklahoma City Thunder selected Payne in the 2015 NBA draft with the 14th overall pick on June 25. Before entering into NBA, Payne had broken his ring finger; fortunately, it was not a big deal to lead him into surgery.

Following it, his rookie deal only came on July 10 while he debuted for the team on November 1.

His foremost debut was a match against the Denver Nuggets, where he recorded three assists in four minutes, which was an eventual 117–93 win.

On December 5, they signed Payne into the Oklahoma City Blue (the Thunder’s D-League affiliate), calling him back the following day. Similarly, it continued as they reassigned him on December 15, calling him back again the following day.

Cameron featured in another 131–123 win match over the Milwaukee Bucks with a 16-point effort on December 29.

Additionally, Payne had his first career-high on April 12, 2016, with 17 points and seven assists in a 102–98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

2016–17 season

Prior to the training camp opening, Payne successfully repaired his fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot on July 25, 2016.

Thus, he had good training in his two days; however, he suffered an acute fracture to his fifth metatarsal in the team’s Blue-White Scrimmage. As a result, he had to miss out on the first two months of the season.

Payne returned to the Thunder on January 7 for the first time in the 2016–17 season and made his season debut that night.

Consequently, he had eight points in 13 minutes against the Denver Nuggets. Therewith, he has his season-high on February 9, 2017, with 15 points in a 118–109 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Chicago Bulls (2017–2019)

On February 23, 2017, Oklahoma City Thunder traded Payne alongside Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott.

Just as in the Thunder, Payne was first affiliated to the Windy City Bulls, the Bulls’ D-League affiliate for the 2016–17 season.

Moving forward, Payne was named the tank commander, and from September 8, 2017, he missed the games for three to four months as he had undergone surgery on his right foot two days prior.

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Therefore, he made his foremost season debut against the Philadelphia 76ers, which came as a 116–115 loss on February 22, 2018.

Likewise, he had to face a 118–105 loss over the Milwaukee Bucks on March 23, 2018; however, he could record his career-high of 17 points and six assists.

Nearing the end of the year 2018, Payne bagged all his career-high of 21 points and 7 for 11 on 3-pointers in the match of October 24, which came as a 112–110 win over the  Charlotte Hornets. The bulls waived him off on January 3, 2019.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2019)

Three days later, on January 6, Payne dealt a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers thus, adding another 10-day on January 16.

During his tenure, he appeared in 9 games for the Cavaliers. As the contract ended, he bid goodbye to the team.

Toronto Raptors (2019)

Toronto Raptors signed Payne on July 15, and he had played for 12 minutes against the Houston Rockets.

During the match on October 8, he had 4 points, 1 assist, and 1 rebound. Afterward, the Raptors released him on October 19.

Shanxi Loongs (2019–2020)

As Paune joined the Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association on November 12, 2019, he featured in two games for the team, as he scored 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 4.5 steal per contest.

He averaged 23.2 points, 8.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 thefts for the Legends. Later, Shaxi loongs replaced him on January 2, 2020.

Texas Legends (2020)

Texas Legends signed Payne on January 25, 2020. On March 3, Payne had an average score of 3.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game, playing 15 games with the Texas Legends.

Thus, as he led Legends for their perfect 3-0 record for the week, Payne was named the NBA G-League Player of the Week.

Phoenix Suns (2020–present)

On June 30, 2020, Payne signed a contract with the Phoenix Suns and made his debut on July 31 in the 2020 NBA Bubble.

During the competition, they faced the Washington Wizards, and he recorded 9 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steal on a plus-minus of +21 as the match eventually came in a 125–112 win.

On August 7, Payne faced the Indiana Pacers, which came in a 114–99 win as he made his season-high 15 points.

Similarly, over the 128–102 win on the Dallas Mavericks, he recorded another season-high in a blowout.

By the end of the 2020 NBA Bubble, Payne had appeared in a total of 8 games, in which all of them came with the victory while coming off the bench and having his highest-scoring season averages in the NBA yet.

Cameron Payne |  Career Stats

Cameron Payne | Awards and Highlights

• OVC Player of the Year (2015)
• Lute Olson Award (2015)
• 2× First-team All-OVC (2014 & 2015)
• OVC Freshman of the Year (2014)
  

  Net Worth

  Payne is still a young player making his mark in the field. He is estimated to have a salary of $346,288.

  Besides, Payne is considered to be the 17th best-paid player of the Phoenix Suns this year. Furthermore, his agent is Jason Glushon of Glushon Sports Management.

Cameron Payne | Girlfriend, Rumor & Social Media

Currently, Payne is supposedly dating the L. A girl, Lisa (@elle.diddy) as known for her Instagram.

Earlier, he had a rumor about dating the Instagram model, Aaleeyah Petty. The news about their relationship came to light in 2016 when they shared a picture on Instagram with the same backdrop during Christmas day.

Some FAQs

Is Cameron Injured?

Cameron suffered from an ankle sprain in one of the games against the Detroit Pistons.

What is the Jersey Number of Cameron?

Cameron Wears the Jersey Number of 22.

What team does Cameron Payne play for?

Cameron Payne now plays for Phoenix Suns.