A recent moment during Orlando Magic training camp illustrated an improvement point guard Elfrid Payton needs to make in the season ahead.

Players hurled passes around the perimeter, and the ball swung to Payton.

Victor Oladipo saw Payton was wide-open and yelled, "Knock it down!"

Payton took one dribble and shot.

The sequence represented progress whether or not the ball sailed through the hoop. Although the Magic want Payton to make more shots from the perimeter, the first step for Payton is simply to take more shots. Players who defended against Payton last year tended to sag far off him whenever he had the ball on the perimeter, daring him to shoot, especially late in games. The tactic inhibited Orlando's offense.

If Payton's open for a shot, and if taking that shot makes sense within the flow of the game, new coach Scott Skiles wants Payton to fire away.

"Elfrid's never really thought like a shooter," Skiles said. "He thinks like a penetrator. So we want him to think and look for his shot, and then eventually that should evolve."

Payton tried just 55 shots from 16 to 24 feet as a rookie last season, according to the NBA's official statistics database. He ranked 105th among 211 guards in total attempts from that distance even though he logged more minutes than many of the players ahead of him.

He tried only 42 shots from over 24 feet, ranking him 163rd out of 211 guards in total attempts from that range.

"You can help him, but at the end of the day, E.P.'s just got to want to shoot it," Oladipo said. "He's gotten a lot better. His jumper's gotten a lot better. We're going to need him to shoot it so he can spread the floor out and things like that."

Payton's reluctance to shoot stemmed, perhaps, from two areas.

First, as Skiles noted, Payton regards himself as a penetrator and as a facilitator. Payton can drive to the rim at will, and he likes to use his dribble drives to set up teammates for open shots. In a way, dishing off to teammates is an outgrowth of Payton's overall personality: He shuns the spotlight and defers credit to other players.

Second, Payton also lacked confidence in his outside shot. He made 34.5 percent of his tries from 16 to 24 feet and 26.2 percent of his attempts from over 24 feet.

To improve his confidence, the Magic arranged to have Payton work during the offseason with Dave Love, the independent shooting coach who has tutored forward Aaron Gordon and helped remake Gordon's shooting stroke. Love attended the Magic's practices on Monday and Tuesday, and he and Payton worked together after Tuesday's practice.

Payton's mechanics look smoother now. When he rises for a shot, he holds the ball in front of himself better than he used to. His follow-through and wrist snap also look more natural and more consistent.

"I think it's progressing well," Payton said. "Obviously, I've still got to go out there and play. So we'll see."

Payton's performance as a rookie was one of the Magic's few bright spots last season. He averaged 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game and finished fourth in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting.

Like most young players, Payton needs to improve more than just one area of his game. When asked to name the areas in which he wants Payton to grow, Magic GM Rob Hennigan first mentioned he'd like to see Payton continue to make defense a priority and continue to learn the nuances of the NBA game.

Payton also has said he wants to become a better, more vocal leader.

Point guard arguably is the most difficult position to play. In addition to knowing their own responsibilities, point guards need to understand their teammates' roles and need to find ways to involve those teammates within the offense.

The reality is, Payton can open up opportunities for others by being more willing to shoot the ball himself.

"It's important for us," Skiles said. "It's important for him for his career going forward with how much money he can make, frankly, and it's important for the team. If he's one of those guys that can become fairly reliable [with his shot] and then at some point mix in a corner 3, with the way he can penetrate, the sky's the limit for him."

jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.