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The Magic waived Adreian Payne on Friday, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Orlando Magic waived two-way player Adreian Payne, league sources tell ESPN. He was playing with G-League Lakeland Magic. Payne, a former first-round pick, has surfaced in the Michigan State scandal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2018
An official announcement regarding Payne had not yet been made by the Magic as of early Saturday morning.
The seldom-used power forward, who the Magic signed to a two-way contract in August, was playing primarily for the Lakeland Magic, the organization’s G League affiliate. The 26-year-old appeared in just five games for the Magic this season, averaging 4.2 points.
The transaction came shortly after ESPN reported that Payne’s alma mater, Michigan State University, mishandled sexual assault cases. According to the story, in 2010, Payne and then-teammate Keith Appling (who actually played five games for the Magic in 2016) were accused of sexually assaulting a female student. No charges were filed and neither player was disciplined by the university, leading to campus protests.
According to a police report, Payne told officers that he could “understand how she would feel that she was not free to leave.” Payne was concerned about her reaction to the circumstances and had even asked Appling to apologize to her, the report stated. Payne told officers that he had apologized to Schaner because “it seemed she felt that they ‘disrespected’ her.” ESPN does not typically identify people who report acts of sexual violence, but Schaner sought to publicly reveal her identity.
Payne was drafted 15th overall by the Atlanta in the 2014 NBA Draft before being traded in the middle of his rookie season to Minnesota, where he played for three seasons. In 107 career games, Payne averaged 4.0 points and 2.9 rebounds.