Deandre Ayton is surprisingly consistent

[Clav]

My read on last night's game for Ayton. He shot well, he cleaned up looks, he looked fine when getting spoon fed and hitting a couple moves he has down, like one fadeaway over Grant early on. Offensively you cannot complain from any performance like this, he did his job and was available for teammates to find him. He got a few of his own looks as well. He had a couple bad offensive plays resulting in TO's or a teammate getting a TO, but he was overall decent.

It's defensively he just floats around and was picked on for portions of the game. There was a Camara play, driving to the lane, Toumani reset and dribbled back into the lane bringing Ayton out - for some reason no one else picked up Camara, nor covered the paint. So it ended up being an easy pass right behind DA to a cutter. He is just not a dominant rebounder, nor post presence, teams are picking on him to move and make decisions. That being said, he wasn't unplayable and leaves me to an... average grade. He helped the Lakers, and they need to realize that in the RS, Ayton will get some pts and can stop lulls in scoring, they have to use this strategy throughout the year when Luka and LBJ are out.

[tsherkin]

I just find funny how Booker gets away with playoffs performance and Ayton doesn't. Normally leader should take the blame, especially if he plays extremely poorly. And game 7 is not just an ordinary game.

This isn't relevant in this thread.

It isn't that it's not a point with merit, it's just 100% derailing from a discussion about Ayton. It's not salient at all to Ayton's performance. There's a Booker thread on the PC Board where it might be of relevance, though.

[SkyBill40]

And how Booker and CP3 played that game 7? Ayton was benched, while those 2 leaders were nonexistent.

And? Completely immaterial to this thread. And also a one-game sample, so not stunningly relevant in any context. We're talking about Ayton, not other guys.

I just find funny how Booker gets away with playoffs performance and Ayton doesn't. Normally leader should take the blame, especially if he plays extremely poorly. And game 7 is not just an ordinary game.

Booker doesn't; however, for the purpose of this thread, AYTON is the point of discussion. So stay focused.

[tsherkin]

My read on last night's game for Ayton. He shot well, he cleaned up looks, he looked fine when getting spoon fed and hitting a couple moves he has down, like one fadeaway over Grant early on. Offensively you cannot complain from any performance like this, he did his job and was available for teammates to find him.

That's his strength, and is a definite need for him on offense. When he has a quality primary playmaker and isn't asked to do anything else but those things, he generally looks pretty good on that end. And that's no sin, really; there are lots of guys who fill that role quite effectively. It's just that his head doesn't think of himself as a roleplayer in that way and he doesn't do the other stuff which would be really useful. Effort is a big thing with him, a consistent issue.

[JellosJigglin]

Ayton is where he wants to be in LA so his work ethic has probably improved. He is dealing with Luka. It's not like Dwight Howard having Kobe to deal with.

Ayton will get extended if he stays the course.

Dwight in his first run with the Lakers wanted to be a back to the basket iso scorer to try to settle some weird beef with Shaq. Kobe correctly told him his strength was defense and rebounding and he should play more like Tyson Chandler. He didn't like that. So he had to go elsewhere and fail as an iso scorer before realizing Kobe was right. He played his role perfectly in his 2nd stint with LA and won a chip.

Say what you will about Kobes personality but he understood the game and how to win championships better than Dwight.

The difference here is Ayton doesn't need to try to be someone else. His regular 17/10 with good screens is such a massive upgrade over Hayes it can't be overstated. I've been saying that since the day of the signing and now his play is only proving it.

[Liam_Gallagher]

2019 - 16 and 10
2020 - 18 and 12
2021 - 14 and 11
2022 - 17 and 10
2023 - 18 and 10
2024 - 17 and 11
2025 - 14 and 10

Dude is the absolute definition of consistency.

[Johnny Bball]

If Ayton wasn't picked first overall, this thread would not exist and none of these opinions would be valid. So... when you say he doesn't affect winning etc., of course he does, just not as people had a vision of him doing.

Ayton is a mid-tier centre that doesn't defend very well or play as hard as he should. He absolutely can play in the NBA and does affect winning. He just doesn't affect it like anyone originally expected him to. And not even close to the levels of expectation from lots of fans, because those were not realistic and should no longer be considered valid.

Yes, he disappointed as a first overall pick. But that is not currently news and not relative to his play.

[3toheadmelo]

Glad to see him play well

[SlimShady83]

Today is the real test vs Wemby/Spurs

[SlimShady83]

If Ayton wasn't picked first overall, this thread would not exist and none of these opinions would be valid. So... when you say he doesn't affect winning etc., of course he does, just not as people had a vision of him doing.

Ayton is a mid-tier centre that doesn't defend very well or play as hard as he should. He absolutely can play in the NBA and does affect winning. He just doesn't affect it like anyone originally expected him to. And not even close to the levels of expectation from lots of fans, because those were not realistic and should no longer be considered valid.

Yes, he disappointed as a first overall pick. But that is not currently news and not relative to his play.

This thread would not exist if Blazers didn't buy him out and Lakers picked him up.

[CobraCommander]

Ayton is just who Ayton is...Ayton isn't Shaq or Howard...he is piece to a team not the star...his draft position and expectations make people dislike a guy thats just solid but isn't mentally built to be great...you can win with him but he will rarely be the primary reason you won...

[CobraCommander]

Today is the real test vs Wemby/Spurs

its not a test...he isn't that guy...he shouldn't try to outplay wemby...he should try to do his job and play within himself. Wemby is a MVP tier at 22...ayton never gonna be that... I like that JJ is just coaching him up and keeping him engaged.

[Bob8]

We know now he's better than Wemby.

I'm 100% sure we would have multiple posts, if he had a bad game. After good one, 0.

[Above The Rim]

He’s probably one of the better “playing in the wrong era” guys in recent memory. With more aggressiveness, IMO he’d be an outlier like Zion that dominates anyway because of his elite finishing ability.

[Pharmcat]

Today is the real test vs Wemby/Spurs

its not a test...he isn't that guy...he shouldn't try to outplay wemby...he should try to do his job and play within himself. Wemby is a MVP tier at 22...ayton never gonna be that... I like that JJ is just coaching him up and keeping him engaged.

he shut wemby down

[dhsilv2]

If Ayton wasn't picked first overall, this thread would not exist and none of these opinions would be valid. So... when you say he doesn't affect winning etc., of course he does, just not as people had a vision of him doing.

Ayton is a mid-tier centre that doesn't defend very well or play as hard as he should. He absolutely can play in the NBA and does affect winning. He just doesn't affect it like anyone originally expected him to. And not even close to the levels of expectation from lots of fans, because those were not realistic and should no longer be considered valid.

Yes, he disappointed as a first overall pick. But that is not currently news and not relative to his play.

His 4y RAPM

2019 - (1.7)
2020 - (1.5)
2021 - (0.7)
2022 - (0.9)
2023 - (-1.9)
2024 - (1.0)
2025 - (0.9)

When he's had playmakers around him, he's very much the definition of not impacting winning or losing for that matter. A very slight negative player on the floor because while offensively he can have some value, he offsets it with his defense. He isn't terrible if you ignore the old contract he had or the first pick status to your point. But there's really no better way to describe him than a guy who doesn't impact winning.

Now you might say well that's 4 y and yes. 2 year shows him +0.2 in 2022 and -0.1 in 2021. So when he's with the right playmaker (this year the data is worthless due to sample) it does look like he can be a contributor in a team as an end of your rotation starter or first guy off the bench. But again...he doesn't move the needle. He just fills the space and role you need. A perfectly average player who's scoring might lead one to think he's more than that.

[Liam_Gallagher]

Whoever wrote the Lakers off before the season were clueless. It seems that when you win 50 games with Jaxon Hayes as the only center on the team, you might improve the next season when you essentially add DeAndre Ayton for free.

Mind boggling.

[CobraCommander]

Today is the real test vs Wemby/Spurs

its not a test...he isn't that guy...he shouldn't try to outplay wemby...he should try to do his job and play within himself. Wemby is a MVP tier at 22...ayton never gonna be that... I like that JJ is just coaching him up and keeping him engaged.

he shut wemby down

Lebron seeing Ayton walk into the locker room after shutting down wemby and shutting up cobra commander....