sashaturiaf wrote:How do you see Ayton's role alongside KD? He's by the far the best offensive center (and with the highest usage) that KD has played with in his whole career. I can see them being pretty deadly together, the thing with KD is he doesn't really need his 5 to provide any spacing for him since he gets what he wants on offense so Ayton will be able to stay in the paint, and in turn that will also help open things up for KD since Ayton is such a threat 1v1. Is Ayton a rhythm player that can have his efficiency hurt with less touches?
Defensively I think they'll be good together, KD's an elite weakside rim protector with his mobility and length while Ayton brings the physicality against bigger 5s.
Ayton's efficiency was highest when he had 12 shots a game, and then slightly behind when he had 10 shots a game....far better than guys like Shaq, etc.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/aytonde01.htmlAlso, he is great from anywhere inside the arc...this year has struggled a lot due to injuries, shuffling lineups and more defensive attention, but look at his FG% from each range here...last year he had one of the highest FG%s ever with a player shooting 11 or more shots a game....at one point 2nd best ever..and what is amazing about it is that 2/3 of his shot were away from the rim...more mid range...and short/mid, long/mid
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/aytonde01/shooting/2022At the bottom of chart, look at splits by shot distance...58.8% from 3-10 ft, 55% from 10-16,46.3% from 16ft-3pt line
