DeAndre Ayton

[ItsThatEasy]

He looked like the #1 draft pick last night....wow.

[Alatan]

Ayton doesn't play like he is a 7 foot athletic freak on either end.

[kg01]

Ayton doesn't play like he is a 7 foot athletic freak on either end.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm trying to learn a bit about these guys so I want to make sure I understand what you mean.

[doordoor123]

He looked like the #1 draft pick last night....wow.

The opposing center was 6’9. We know he dominates smaller guys. His issue is against guys the same size as him.

[No-Man]

Ayton doesn't play like he is a 7 foot athletic freak on either end.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm trying to learn a bit about these guys so I want to make sure I understand what you mean.

Not really that decisive or physical with his body, pops out more than diving in pick and rolls, goes through people at the post and gets position whenever he wants to but often he would just shoot standstill and his mid-ranger is just meh, not diverse, really flat, has been hitting those, but that's not a good efficient look for him.
He should be dunking on people's faces all the damn time, and you see it but rarely, part of it is related to the offense Arizona runs though.

on defense it's probably even worse.

I think Mitchell Robinson is the guy people want if they are looking for a explosive finisher that will dunk absolutely everything, the question with him is about how advanced his reads on defense are, can he shoot? and how good of a defender in space he is, looked good when locked in somebody but not really in PnR (tight high hips, can't back pedal fluidly).

Honestly, Ayton, Bagley and Jackson (he due to been the perfect 3&D big, although if Robinson can shoot I am not so sure) are probably worth the investment in the top5-10, the rest of the bigs, I'll just fade them

If I can get Mitchell Robinson, Jontay Porter or Daniel Gafford in the 20s, I am sure as hell not gonna draft Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr, or Robert Williams in the lotto/top10.

Some bigs are gonna fall, and the difference isn't that huge, I honestly might like Robinson the best out of all those guys other than Jackson.

[CP War Hawks]

He's saying his aa doesn't display in game. Football speed vs. combine speed. Ayton supposedly has a 44 inch vertical but he doesn't get that high blocking shots or dunking.

He's starting to remind me of a really in shape Cousins skill wise and gait movement. Still a freak and separating himself amongst the bigs in this draft.

[No-Man]

He's saying his aa doesn't display in game. Football speed vs. combine speed. Ayton supposedly has a 44 inch vertical but he doesn't get that high blocking shots or dunking.

He's starting to remind me of a really in shape Cousins skill wise and gait movement. Still a freak and separating himself amongst the bigs in this draft.

Nowhere near the handles on the move that Cousins has, or the shooting ability though

[The-Power]

He looked like the #1 draft pick last night....wow.

On one end. His PnR defense in particular has been awful, he has no clue what to do and that is going to hurt him a lot in the NBA. I realize that he will be one of the first names off the board strictly based on appearance and perceived potential but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ends up being rather mediocre compared to the pre-draft hype and expectations.

[kg01]

Ayton doesn't play like he is a 7 foot athletic freak on either end.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm trying to learn a bit about these guys so I want to make sure I understand what you mean.

Not really that decisive or physical with his body, pops out more than diving in pick and rolls, goes through people at the post and gets position whenever he wants to but often he would just shoot standstill and his mid-ranger is just meh, not diverse, really flat, has been hitting those, but that's not a good efficient look for him.
He should be dunking on people's faces all the damn time, and you see it but rarely, part of it is related to the offense Arizona runs though.

on defense it's probably even worse.

I think Mitchell Robinson is the guy people want if they are looking for a explosive finisher that will dunk absolutely everything, the question with him is about how advanced his reads on defense are, can he shoot? and how good of a defender in space he is, looked good when locked in somebody but not really in PnR (tight high hips, can't back pedal fluidly).

Honestly, Ayton, Bagley and Jackson (he due to been the perfect 3&D big, although if Robinson can shoot I am not so sure) are probably worth the investment in the top5-10, the rest of the bigs, I'll just fade them

If I can get Mitchell Robinson, Jontay Porter or Daniel Gafford in the 20s, I am sure as hell not gonna draft Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr, or Robert Williams in the lotto/top10.

Some bigs are gonna fall, and the difference isn't that huge, I honestly might like Robinson the best out of all those guys other than Jackson.

Thanks for this response. It jibes with what I (think I) have been seeing in Ayton. He seems to float. I wonder if he can be coached to trend towards using his physical tools more effectively. Honestly, doesn't this sort of match some of the other supposed high-level guys that've come out of AZ in the Miller-era?

Totally agree on Bamba, Carter and Williams, btw.

[CP War Hawks]

He's saying his aa doesn't display in game. Football speed vs. combine speed. Ayton supposedly has a 44 inch vertical but he doesn't get that high blocking shots or dunking.

He's starting to remind me of a really in shape Cousins skill wise and gait movement. Still a freak and separating himself amongst the bigs in this draft.

Nowhere near the handles on the move that Cousins has, or the shooting ability though

Cuz shot 16.5% on 3s and 60.5% at the line his freshmen season. DA may never have handles like Cousins but it's no telling what skillset these prospects develop in the pros. I'm worried about his defensive intensity and awareness in the NBA.

[No-Man]

He's saying his aa doesn't display in game. Football speed vs. combine speed. Ayton supposedly has a 44 inch vertical but he doesn't get that high blocking shots or dunking.

He's starting to remind me of a really in shape Cousins skill wise and gait movement. Still a freak and separating himself amongst the bigs in this draft.

Nowhere near the handles on the move that Cousins has, or the shooting ability though

Cuz shot 16.5% on 3s and 60.5% at the line his freshmen season. DA may never have handles like Cousins but it's no telling what skillset these prospects develop in the pros. I'm worried about his defensive intensity and awareness in the NBA.

Cousins shot 6 3s all year lol, he was at UK way before the 3pt shooting revolution and played for Calipari, like, theere is no way of telling if he could've actually shot from there back then too.

It is like when people talk about Conley shooting after been a supposed non-shooter, no dude, the game changed and you are not gonna judge guys that come up now with the same standards or wishful-thinking in terms of possible evolution, these guys have grown up knowing how important shooting is, whatever they do is a much more representative data point than what it was for guys like Cousins or Conley.

[CP War Hawks]

My point is you can't discount Ayton's shooting ability while in college. There is no real way of knowing if he will be a better/worse shooter than Cuz.

If he lands in Atl, there's a good chance Bud and co. could get that ability out of him, see Dedmon.

[J_T]

Of all the game highlights, which one looks most impressive? I've watched couple of them and wasn't as impressed as some other people around here. I can't get over lack of opposition. Still ranked number two in my book, but I was hoping for a bit more domination due to his superior physical predisposition. Who is the best defensive PF/C that was defending him so far?

[916fan]

He's saying his aa doesn't display in game. Football speed vs. combine speed. Ayton supposedly has a 44 inch vertical but he doesn't get that high blocking shots or dunking.

He's starting to remind me of a really in shape Cousins skill wise and gait movement. Still a freak and separating himself amongst the bigs in this draft.

Nowhere near the handles on the move that Cousins has, or the shooting ability though

Cousins didn't develop the shooting ability until his 3rd/4th season. He wasn't an elite shooter(big) until George Karl came along. For a surprisingly dysfunctional year, Karl brought out the most off Cousins' offensive potential.
I think at the same age, Cousins and Ayton are equal shooters. Cousins didn't take mid-ranges at all at Kentucky, but he came to Sacramento with an OK looking one.

Cousins came with a lot of baggage at 19yearsold. I think Ayton can be a more dominant player than Cousins. He's much more polished on offense and doesn't just rely on his size to bully people. It's why Cousins has only had 1 shooting season of at least 50%. Cousins isn't as skilled as Ayton as a scorer. I think Cousins has better IQ and more of an alpha mentality which has helped him a lot in the NBA.
As a lot of people said, Ayton floats around too much sometimes, but I think it's overstated. I don't question his effort the way I did Cousins. At least once a game, the dude would basically let the team play 4 on 5 because he was still on the other end upset about a non-call.

[Justwar]

Cousins was known for shooting in hs, same for towns, Davis. Just none of them really liked the post up game. Cousins imo best season under Cal who got more out of him on the block and made him more dominant. Yeah he had a few issues but his freshman year compared to any stage of his life he was pushed. I questioned all through the summer whether ayton would float or whether Miller had enough power to do what was best for him.

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[thr3ep01nte4]

Joel Embiid currently shoots 48.6% from the field and 26.3% from three (2.7 attempts per game). And he averages 4.0 turnovers a game. If he is like Towns defensively (one of the worst defensive centers in the league), would you guys call him a "franchise cornerstone"? Thoughts?

[Alatan]

Joel Embiid currently shoots 48.6% from the field and 26.3% from three (2.7 attempts per game). And he averages 4.0 turnovers a game. If he is like Towns defensively (one of the worst defensive centers in the league), would you guys call him a "franchise cornerstone"? Thoughts?

The thing is, he is one of the best defensive centers in the league of not the best. If he was defending like Towns i would not call him a franchise cornerstone.

[Ettorefm]

It's amazing how protected Ayton is. He's absolutely clueless on defense, yet he never gets criticized. It's always "yeah, but look at his tools, his skill"

I wish the other prospects in the top 7 had this kind of bias towards them. Mo Bamba does everything right and gives 100% on the court and this low-motor, soft giant gets praised for scoring against dudes way smaller and shorter than him.

We're all in for a rude awakening in the NBA if he keeps playing like this.

If I can get Mitchell Robinson, Jontay Porter or Daniel Gafford in the 20s, I am sure as hell not gonna draft Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr, or Robert Williams in the lotto/top10.

Geez..I get trying to sound like an expert, but...

[DirtyDez]

It's amazing how protected Ayton is. He's absolutely clueless on defense, yet he never gets criticized. It's always "yeah, but look at his tools, his skill"

I wish the other prospects in the top 7 had this kind of bias towards them. Mo Bamba does everything right and gives 100% on the court and this low-motor, soft giant gets praised for scoring against dudes way smaller and shorter than him.

We're all in for a rude awakening in the NBA if he keeps playing like this.

If I can get Mitchell Robinson, Jontay Porter or Daniel Gafford in the 20s, I am sure as hell not gonna draft Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr, or
Robert Williams in the lotto/top10.

Geez..I get trying to sound like an expert, but...

Have you followed the forums at all regarding Ayton? His defense gets criticized more than anything else...

[thr3ep01nte4]

Joel Embiid currently shoots 48.6% from the field and 26.3% from three (2.7 attempts per game). And he averages 4.0 turnovers a game. If he is like Towns defensively (one of the worst defensive centers in the league), would you guys call him a "franchise cornerstone"? Thoughts?

The thing is, he is one of the best defensive centers in the league of not the best. If he was defending like Towns i would not call him a franchise cornerstone.

Exactly. The best part of Embiid’s game is his defense. A college Embiid without the defense. That’s what Ayton is right now. Embiid has been an elite defender since his early days at Kansas. I doubt Ayton will improve much. Like offense, defense also needs great instinct and talent. That’s why so many great athletes playing in the NBA, yet so few of them are great defenders. I don’t think Ayton can be as great as Embiid defensively. IMO, he can be an average defender because of his size.