Thunder Guard Cameron Payne Talks About Westbrook Trade Rumors, Durant's Decision

Thunder point guard Cameron Payne has had a busy offseason playing Summer League basketball, but apparently he's making time for some interviews as well. On Wednesday Payne was interviewed on FS1's "The Herd," and discussed a variety of topics ranging from the trade rumors that surround Russell Westbrook to Kevin Durant's decision to leave the Thunder.

Here's some highlights from the interview:

On not playing a lot his rookie year… “I knew I was going to a good team and we have Russell Westbrook so I mean I just knew I was going to get a great experience my first season. I knew we was going to make the playoffs and I knew we were going to have a really good season during the regular season so I just took it as an experience year, learning, trying to pick up a lot of things. I made the best out of my situation even though I didn’t get the amount of time I wanted, I was still one of those guys who was always happy, that was ready to come in and work and wait on my opportunity.”

On Westbrook in practice… “He treats practice just like a game, and that’s one of the things he taught me. This is your job and you got to come ready to work every day, there’s no days off. And Russ is real big on that and I feel that’s what makes him the player he is today because he’s such a competitor. Every day is another day for him to get better or add something to his game, that’s what makes him so good, he never takes a day off and he comes to work.

On guarding Westbrook in practice… ”It’s real good for me to go against Russ every day in practice. Because he made me a better defender than I was coming out of college. He leads by example and he does a great job doing it.”

On trade rumors that surround Westbrook… “There’s a lot going on, but like I told some guys a couple of days ago, I’m just worried about the offseason for myself, just trying to get better. We have a great GM, he’ll do the right thing and just make sure everything is okay. But I mean, we’re just getting ready for the season, we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re just training to get to the championship next season.”

On dancing with Westbrook before the games… “It was a collaboration; it was just a mutual thing. We dance all the time before practice, outside of practice. We just got a little connection, but I have dances with everyone on the team. It’s just a handshake just to get guys confident, help them out.”

On how he found out about Durant’s decision… “I saw the picture on Instagram with him, Steph and Klay Thompson, and it was like ‘splash kings’ or whatever, something like that. That was the first place I’ve seen it.”

The first person he texted or called after he heard… “My Dad. He wasn’t mad, he just said he’s pretty sure he made the decision that was best for him. And that’s what we all want, make the decision that’s best for you. We want everyone to be happy so we weren’t tripping about it we just started talking about that’s what makes a man when you get hit with adversity, so we’re going to see what we do this season with what we have.”

On if he was upset that he joined the Warriors of all teams… “You definitely get a little upset, but hey, you can’t do anything about it. It’s his life, his decision, so I’m just happy for him. He played his heart out every night.”

On if he has Pokemon Go… “Nah I can’t get into it.”