Cameron Payne Is Pain Free As Camp Gets Closer

Thunder guard Cameron Payne and forward Josh Huestis read to students at Pleasant Hill Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo By Randy Renner for InsideThunder.com)

By Randy Renner, Senior Writer

Thunder backup point guard Cameron Payne may not be able quite yet to run and cut at full speed but he can walk comfortably wherever he needs to go and that’s progress.

Payne remember had Jones fracture surgery on his right foot on July 25th and when last we saw him he was riding around on one of those little scooters with his right leg propped up and his foot in a cast.

Tuesday when he and Thunder forward Josh Huestis came to Pleasant Hill Elementary School to read to a group of students, Payne didn’t need any assistance from a scooter. He didn’t even need a helping hand or a walking boot.

“I’ve been out of (the boot) for probably two weeks now,” he said. “And I’m feeling good. I’m getting back into things, I’m shootin’, shootin’ layups, jumpin’ around, running so everything’s been going great with my foot.”

Thunder fans took a gulp when it was announced over the summer that Payne would have a surgery similar to what Kevin Durant had a couple seasons ago. Durant had complications requiring two additional surgeries and an injury that was supposed to take 6-to-8 weeks to heal ended up taking most of that season.

Payne reached out to KD about the procedure.

“It was a much needed talk that he gave me and it helped get me through the process.”

So far Payne hasn’t had any of the problems Durant experienced and shouldn’t need any follow-up surgeries but he doesn’t plan to rush right into heavy workloads during training camp either. When camp starts on September 24th it will have been seven weeks and six days since his surgery.

“I hope I’m ready as soon as the first day comes but I don’t wanna rush anything. I wanna be perfectly and exactly ready 100 percent so it’s really day-by-day but right now the things that we’re doing, I’m going at it 100 percent.”