He played college basketball for Murray State, and was selected 14th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2015 NBA draft.

He was recruited by William Small to play college basketball at Murray State, choosing the Racers over a few other schools.

[3] As a sophomore, he was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after he averaged 20.2 points, 6.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

[3] During workouts prior to the NBA draft, Payne broke the ring finger on his non-shooting hand.

[6] He made his debut for the Thunder on November 1 in a 117–93 win over the Denver Nuggets, recording three assists in four minutes.

In the Thunder's regular season finale on April 12, 2016, Payne recorded career highs of 17 points and seven assists in a 102–98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

He went through full contact during the Thunder's first two days of practice,[14] but on September 27, he suffered an acute fracture to his fifth metatarsal in the team's Blue-White Scrimmage.

[20] On February 23, 2017, Payne was traded, along with Joffrey Lauvergne and Anthony Morrow, to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round draft pick.

[24] On March 17, 2018, Payne recorded his first professional double-double in his NBA career, putting up 13 points and a career-high 10 assists in a 114–109 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[32] On October 8, 2019, Payne played for 12 minutes against the Houston Rockets in a preseason game and tallied four points, one assist, and one rebound.

[38] He made his debut on July 31 in the 2020 NBA Bubble, where he recorded nine points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals on a plus-minus of +21 in a 125–112 win over the Washington Wizards.

[40] He later repeated his season-high in a blowout 128–102 win over the Dallas Mavericks, helping the team be undefeated in all eight games the Suns played in the bubble while coming off the bench and having his highest scoring and rebounding season averages in the NBA yet.

[44] On March 4, Payne recorded his second career double-double in the NBA, leading the Suns that night with 17 points and 10 assists coming off the bench in a 120–98 blowout win over the Golden State Warriors.

[48] On November 16, 2022, Payne matched his career-high of 29 points in a 130–119 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

[51] On February 8, 2024, Payne was traded, alongside a 2027 second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Patrick Beverley.