Deandre Ayton news and highlights

[MrMiyagi]

Just stop it Arch.... there is no convincing stat or observation or opinion you can put out there to deter this Ayton love that an ever shrinking group have. It goes deeper than just Luka vs Ayton. Its the Im right youre wong internet ego at stake. Its the UoA homer club. It runs rampant here. How dare anyone blame this 'Kid'... he's just a 'kid' ... C's take longer to develop.... We have no point guard (IE not his fault)... Its the coach's fault.... Sarver is a baffoon... the excuses will not end.

Haha you're a funny dude, i like reading your posts, that's for sure

But yeah, was just answering Fishi, he was questioning if Luka could have any impact on Suns and well in my opinion, he would have a much greater impact. He is a fighter at least and cares deeply about winning. And it also changes the locker room mentality when you have a rookie who will give 100% every night while also being your best scorer/player.

Like you said, for now, it looks like Suns F'ckd up but i sure as hell, as a fan, hope they can turn it around. But at this point i believe tanking season is already in full effect.

Never said he wouldn't have an impact. I said he wouldn't have as much of an impact than he is having with a more balanced and experienced Mavs team.

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

[MrMiyagi]

He leads the Mavs in 4th Q points, is one of the best ( % wise players) in the entire NBA in clutch points. Has hit more step back 3's than the next 23 teams and is hitting over 41% on his own pull up shots, which is also up there with the superstars. He is averaging almost 7rbs per game with DJ ( who is gunning for those rebounds like his life depends of it ) and 4 assists by not even playing a traditional PG at 19yo and a coach who runs 0 plays for him.

Yes, i would bet he would be close to 22-25ppg and 6-8apg and would make insanely good 1-2 punch with Booker, while TJ providing backup scoring. Don't know who the center would be, but Holmes looks great and i think there was some talk that Suns would go after Robinson at 16.
Also with Booker being out so much, Suns would probably only have 4-5 more wins, but i guess that would be enough ,to at least, have some confidence going forward and maybe a good indicator that FA's would actually want to sign here for reasonable amount of money.

Just stop it Arch.... there is no convincing stat or observation or opinion you can put out there to deter this Ayton love that an ever shrinking group have. It goes deeper than just Luka vs Ayton. Its the Im right youre wong internet ego at stake. Its the UoA homer club. It runs rampant here. How dare anyone blame this 'Kid'... he's just a 'kid' ... C's take longer to develop.... We have no point guard (IE not his fault)... Its the coach's fault.... Sarver is a baffoon... the excuses will not end.

All you are is a slight annoyance, pointing out, logically and with tempered facts and opinion I might add, a very convincing case that the SUNS F-d up by passing on Doncic, who really does look like what he was billed as. Me? Im a jerk cause ive labeled our golden boy Sheandre.

You see, Its not so much on what we got.... any other draft I'd say we'd be happy to have Ayton... but this one is going to sting and sting and sting again when we are continually reminded on who we could of had. And eventually it may not be just Doncic we are referring to. It just really sucks being a Suns fan and watching them/us whiff on 5 top ten picks. But it sucks more when you see a player who clearly is a game changer that we could of had. And to find out owner wanted him all along... Thanks McDammitSarverShouldHaveFiredYouSooner. That F-er sure got one effective long lasting parting shot in.

Fact is Ayton is a long ways away from being a cornerstone piece. His stock is plummeting.... or at least adjusting to the true price. Doncic's is rising. There will soon be no doubt of this.



I look for a back injury soon to sit Ayton down and regroup, mentally more so than physically. He is on a path of pitch fork and torches disfavor. He is so lucky he works in an environment where the media is as soft as his game. He would get POUNDED in NY or(?). How do you think he would answer any direct question about his disappearing act on D, his NO F-n Fouls passivity, his obvious lack of basketball sense.... its coming ... the elephant in the room is beginning to move the furniture. Meanwhile, the Feng shui is Dallas has improved three fold.

Sister kissing Suns... we all should be used to it by now.

And I will be honest with you Sir Archibald, Im already a closet Mavs fan. I enjoy watching them and the Luka show way more. But then agin, it almost takes a sadist F*** to watch the Suns, let alone be any type of passionate fan. This organization is at an all time low... and it is showcased by your argument.

Do you even realize above are true ?

I feel like sometimes the Frumpalumpagus is Sarver with all the player and executive hating he does. He's yet to turn on James Jones because he's still in the honey-moon phase, and he still hates McD for picking Ayton.

[Archx]

Haha you're a funny dude, i like reading your posts, that's for sure

But yeah, was just answering Fishi, he was questioning if Luka could have any impact on Suns and well in my opinion, he would have a much greater impact. He is a fighter at least and cares deeply about winning. And it also changes the locker room mentality when you have a rookie who will give 100% every night while also being your best scorer/player.

Like you said, for now, it looks like Suns F'ckd up but i sure as hell, as a fan, hope they can turn it around. But at this point i believe tanking season is already in full effect.

Never said he wouldn't have an impact. I said he wouldn't have as much of an impact than he is having with a more balanced and experienced Mavs team.

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

I am not saying that you are wrong but look at it from this perspective. Almost everyone ( outside of the US ) thought Suns are gonna pick up Luka, trust me, coming from a guy who lives in EU, you had 90% people saying "suns are not so stupid to not to take Doncic"...
And after they went after Ayton, well, people were kinda shocked...

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did. Suns would still have Holmes and who knows who else they would have picked up in the draft. Most plausable pick was Robinson.
So, not only the rim protection would have been covered, there would also be 2 guys who could create offense and play off eachother. Ayton would probably be selected by SAC and Mavs were locked in on WCJ anyway.

In theory, Suns could have been good. You'd have 2 offensive threats in Luka and Booker, also you'd have TJ and maybe even Ariza would be showing more interest, plus 2 high energy centers... I mean, most of us thought it's gonna go down like that but it didn't. And now we're in another tanking season.

[Jstock12]

Never said he wouldn't have an impact. I said he wouldn't have as much of an impact than he is having with a more balanced and experienced Mavs team.

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did.

Dragic has been a top NBA point-guard for many years. Booker is not even a point-guard. Booker/Luka could never function like Dragic/Luka did in the Eurobasket.

[lilfishi22]

I'd like to provide a bit more context to the Ayton is a terrible defender assertion.

Rim protection has definitely not been his strong suit, as evidenced by opponents FG% against him inside of 6 feet (65.5% vs. 7.4 attempts), but his overall DFG% is 48.4% vs. 17.2 attempts - to provide some context, Clint Capela's DFG% is 45.9% vs. 19.3 attempts, Anthony Davis's is 46.9% vs. 17.8 attempts, Al Horford's is 47.5% vs. 15.9 attempts, Steven Adams' is 47.6% vs. 16.2 attempts, and Rudy Gobert's is 49.8% vs. 17.4 attempts. I think most would agree that these dudes are considered to be good to great defenders, and Ayton isn't too far off in overall DFG%, and compared to his rookie peers Wendell Carter Jr.'s DFG% is 47.3% vs. 13.5 attempts and JJJ's is 46.4% vs. 10.9 attempts, which again, is behind, but not as drastically as I think most people would assume.

I'm also a little surprised by the reaction to the game tonight. We didn't have our two best scorers - one of them also being our leading assister, and had 3 guys go a combined 0-15 from 3... But I guess our 7 footer should've demanded the ball on the inbounds and dribble the ball 90 feet in order to post up and take 20 shots?

I've noticed his overall DFG% relative to other centers is pretty good. I think that's because he disrupts shots a bit away from the rim and switches well, and usually plays good man defense away from the rim, and ok man defense around the rim, but the help defense around the rim or getting in there to make it tough for guards to get an easy lay up is near non existent like in college.

I personally don't care much about his offense right now. He is very efficient and I think that will come when we have a more competent PG and our other scoring options back to relieve pressure.

I do agree that people are overreacting to the game when we were missing our two best players/scorers and already have a very thin roster to start with.

Those efficient offensive numbers are empty because we're not winning but when we start winning, that 16/10 becomes more valuable and then becomes important scoring contribution on a winning team.

It's all about team success. When the team sucks and we can't win, those 25/15 don't mean **** because it's just perceived as a guy putting up stats on a bad team, "anyone can do that". Kyrie Irving was already a really good scorer by the end of his rookie season (good efficiency too) but he was largely seen as a flashy but empty scorer because he didn't have much team success. When Lebron came on board and they started winning, that same 20/5 became super important and his skill set as a guy who can create his own offense became not just valuable but a vital contribution to the Cavs offense.

[Archx]

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did.

Dragic has been a top NBA point-guard for many years. Booker is not even a point-guard. Booker/Luka could never function like Dragic/Luka did in the Eurobasket.

Well you never know, maybe it would ... Dragic played offensive oriented PG anyway, he wasn't even a primary passer

[lilfishi22]

Never said he wouldn't have an impact. I said he wouldn't have as much of an impact than he is having with a more balanced and experienced Mavs team.

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

I am not saying that you are wrong but look at it from this perspective. Almost everyone ( outside of the US ) thought Suns are gonna pick up Luka, trust me, coming from a guy who lives in EU, you had 90% people saying "suns are not so stupid to not to take Doncic"...
And after they went after Ayton, well, people were kinda shocked...

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did. Suns would still have Holmes and who knows who else they would have picked up in the draft. Most plausable pick was Robinson.
So, not only the rim protection would have been covered, there would also be 2 guys who could create offense and play off eachother. Ayton would probably be selected by SAC and Mavs were locked in on WCJ anyway.

In theory, Suns could have been good. You'd have 2 offensive threats in Luka and Booker, also you'd have TJ and maybe even Ariza would be showing more interest, plus 2 high energy centers... I mean, most of us thought it's gonna go down like that but it didn't. And now we're in another tanking season.

I really don't think that is true. I'm not from the US so most of the media I consume are based on the US but I don't think it's true that everyone thought the Suns were going to take Luka. The narrative around Ayton was strong (hometown kid, we needed a C, one of the most dominant C's coming out of college in years, fits well with Booker) and I do think he was closer to the consensus pick than Luka ever was. Looking across realGM for example, most expected the Suns to take Ayton.

What if we drafted Luka but missed out on a good rim protector? What if we couldn't make the Holmes trade happen? It could certainly have happened that way because we completely whiffed on all PG's since we lost EB. The make up of the team doesn't change how talented Luka really is but how could would this team be with him but the roster to support him?

I think we're having a different discussion if the supposed deal for SGA went down. That would've given us a good PG who had size, can defend and occasionally hit the 3PT shot. Luka is probably still more impactful but I'm just saying the gap between Ayton and Luka in terms of impact is much smaller.

[Jstock12]

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did.

Dragic has been a top NBA point-guard for many years. Booker is not even a point-guard. Booker/Luka could never function like Dragic/Luka did in the Eurobasket.

Well you never know, maybe it would ... Dragic played offensive oriented PG anyway, he wasn't even a primary passer

Luka would have to play as a pure PG in that case, and you would absolutely require to have a 3&D wing who could defend the opposing PGs in Luka's place.

[lilfishi22]

Dragic has been a top NBA point-guard for many years. Booker is not even a point-guard. Booker/Luka could never function like Dragic/Luka did in the Eurobasket.

Well you never know, maybe it would ... Dragic played offensive oriented PG anyway, he wasn't even a primary passer

Luka would have to play as a pure PG in that case, and you would absolutely require to have a 3&D wing who could defend the opposing PGs in Luka's place.

Luka/Book would work just fine imo

Both guys can pass, spread the floor, create their own shot and defer and play off the ball. Booker kind of by default has to play more on the ball because of our roster make up but I would prefer to see him play off the ball more often

[bigfoot]

Ayton ... modern day ugly step sister.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I think it's fair to question if the suns should have valued playmaking and shooting over a traditional big considering how the NBA has evolved and their roster at the time.

Why I was all for doncic was basketball IQ, this team really needed natural and smart players.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[lilfishi22]

I think it's fair to question if the suns should have valued playmaking and shooting over a traditional big considering how the NBA has evolved and their roster at the time.

Why I was all for doncic was basketball IQ, this team really needed natural and smart players.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

+1

I certainly valued perimeter creation over a big man.

[Revived]

I think it's fair to question if the suns should have valued playmaking and shooting over a traditional big considering how the NBA has evolved and their roster at the time.

Why I was all for doncic was basketball IQ, this team really needed natural and smart players.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

This was my exact viewpoint. People said how Ayton was gonna be Shaq or Hakeem or whatever and I didn't really buy that but I questioned that even if it was, we would be better off with playmaking and shooting than that because of how the league has evolved.

[Revived]

Had we drafted Luka and Ayton gone to Sacramento or Dallas, we'd be salivating at the Fox-Ayton/DSJr-Ayton pair and be bitching aboyt having 8 wings and no bigs... Suns fans just have player envy, no matter who we pick/sign. We could have Giannis and still bitch about how he still can't hit a 3 and doesn't take care of the ball or some dumb ****.

I am not saying that you are wrong but look at it from this perspective. Almost everyone ( outside of the US ) thought Suns are gonna pick up Luka, trust me, coming from a guy who lives in EU, you had 90% people saying "suns are not so stupid to not to take Doncic"...
And after they went after Ayton, well, people were kinda shocked...

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did. Suns would still have Holmes and who knows who else they would have picked up in the draft. Most plausable pick was Robinson.
So, not only the rim protection would have been covered, there would also be 2 guys who could create offense and play off eachother. Ayton would probably be selected by SAC and Mavs were locked in on WCJ anyway.

In theory, Suns could have been good. You'd have 2 offensive threats in Luka and Booker, also you'd have TJ and maybe even Ariza would be showing more interest, plus 2 high energy centers... I mean, most of us thought it's gonna go down like that but it didn't. And now we're in another tanking season.

I really don't think that is true. I'm not from the US so most of the media I consume are based on the US but I don't think it's true that everyone thought the Suns were going to take Luka. The narrative around Ayton was strong (hometown kid, we needed a C, one of the most dominant C's coming out of college in years, fits well with Booker) and I do think he was closer to the consensus pick than Luka ever was. Looking across realGM for example, most expected the Suns to take Ayton.

What if we drafted Luka but missed out on a good rim protector? What if we couldn't make the Holmes trade happen? It could certainly have happened that way because we completely whiffed on all PG's since we lost EB. The make up of the team doesn't change how talented Luka really is but how could would this team be with him but the roster to support him?

I think we're having a different discussion if the supposed deal for SGA went down. That would've given us a good PG who had size, can defend and occasionally hit the 3PT shot. Luka is probably still more impactful but I'm just saying the gap between Ayton and Luka in terms of impact is much smaller.

Thing is that we could have drafted Doncic and then went after someone like Mitchell Robinson with #31. The Holmes trade still probably goes down as does the Melton deal because neither of it are really related to the draft choices.

[lilfishi22]

I am not saying that you are wrong but look at it from this perspective. Almost everyone ( outside of the US ) thought Suns are gonna pick up Luka, trust me, coming from a guy who lives in EU, you had 90% people saying "suns are not so stupid to not to take Doncic"...
And after they went after Ayton, well, people were kinda shocked...

But what would happen if Luka landed here? Him and Booker are basically 2 offensive initiators who would function like Dragic&Luka did. Suns would still have Holmes and who knows who else they would have picked up in the draft. Most plausable pick was Robinson.
So, not only the rim protection would have been covered, there would also be 2 guys who could create offense and play off eachother. Ayton would probably be selected by SAC and Mavs were locked in on WCJ anyway.

In theory, Suns could have been good. You'd have 2 offensive threats in Luka and Booker, also you'd have TJ and maybe even Ariza would be showing more interest, plus 2 high energy centers... I mean, most of us thought it's gonna go down like that but it didn't. And now we're in another tanking season.

I really don't think that is true. I'm not from the US so most of the media I consume are based on the US but I don't think it's true that everyone thought the Suns were going to take Luka. The narrative around Ayton was strong (hometown kid, we needed a C, one of the most dominant C's coming out of college in years, fits well with Booker) and I do think he was closer to the consensus pick than Luka ever was. Looking across realGM for example, most expected the Suns to take Ayton.

What if we drafted Luka but missed out on a good rim protector? What if we couldn't make the Holmes trade happen? It could certainly have happened that way because we completely whiffed on all PG's since we lost EB. The make up of the team doesn't change how talented Luka really is but how could would this team be with him but the roster to support him?

I think we're having a different discussion if the supposed deal for SGA went down. That would've given us a good PG who had size, can defend and occasionally hit the 3PT shot. Luka is probably still more impactful but I'm just saying the gap between Ayton and Luka in terms of impact is much smaller.

Thing is that we could have drafted Doncic and then went after someone like Mitchell Robinson with #31. The Holmes trade still probably goes down as does the Melton deal because neither of it are really related to the draft choices.

I liked Robinson but I feel like the Suns had Ayton set in their minds. Look at who they worked out pre-draft. We worked out essentially all guards after the lottery. We worked out both Okobo and Melton as well. I just don't think Robinson was ever on their radar because we were planning on taking Ayton

[bwgood77]

I'd like to provide a bit more context to the Ayton is a terrible defender assertion.

Rim protection has definitely not been his strong suit, as evidenced by opponents FG% against him inside of 6 feet (65.5% vs. 7.4 attempts), but his overall DFG% is 48.4% vs. 17.2 attempts - to provide some context, Clint Capela's DFG% is 45.9% vs. 19.3 attempts, Anthony Davis's is 46.9% vs. 17.8 attempts, Al Horford's is 47.5% vs. 15.9 attempts, Steven Adams' is 47.6% vs. 16.2 attempts, and Rudy Gobert's is 49.8% vs. 17.4 attempts. I think most would agree that these dudes are considered to be good to great defenders, and Ayton isn't too far off in overall DFG%, and compared to his rookie peers Wendell Carter Jr.'s DFG% is 47.3% vs. 13.5 attempts and JJJ's is 46.4% vs. 10.9 attempts, which again, is behind, but not as drastically as I think most people would assume.

I'm also a little surprised by the reaction to the game tonight. We didn't have our two best scorers - one of them also being our leading assister, and had 3 guys go a combined 0-15 from 3... But I guess our 7 footer should've demanded the ball on the inbounds and dribble the ball 90 feet in order to post up and take 20 shots?

I've noticed his overall DFG% relative to other centers is pretty good. I think that's because he disrupts shots a bit away from the rim and switches well, and usually plays good man defense away from the rim, and ok man defense around the rim, but the help defense around the rim or getting in there to make it tough for guards to get an easy lay up is near non existent like in college.

I personally don't care much about his offense right now. He is very efficient and I think that will come when we have a more competent PG and our other scoring options back to relieve pressure.

I do agree that people are overreacting to the game when we were missing our two best players/scorers and already have a very thin roster to start with.

Those efficient offensive numbers are empty because we're not winning but when we start winning, that 16/10 becomes more valuable and then becomes important scoring contribution on a winning team.

It's all about team success. When the team sucks and we can't win, those 25/15 don't mean **** because it's just perceived as a guy putting up stats on a bad team, "anyone can do that". Kyrie Irving was already a really good scorer by the end of his rookie season (good efficiency too) but he was largely seen as a flashy but empty scorer because he didn't have much team success. When Lebron came on board and they started winning, that same 20/5 became super important and his skill set as a guy who can create his own offense became not just valuable but a vital contribution to the Cavs offense.

Empty stats are putting up big raw numbers on bad efficiency, like Jackson down the stretch last year. Ayton's offensive stats are not empty...they are efficient. Unfortunately we don't have anyone else who is efficient right now other than TJ who is out. Booker's efficiency has tanked, partly due to his injuries and partly due to being trapped by defenders.

But the biggest thing is our defense can't stop anyone.

[lilfishi22]

I've noticed his overall DFG% relative to other centers is pretty good. I think that's because he disrupts shots a bit away from the rim and switches well, and usually plays good man defense away from the rim, and ok man defense around the rim, but the help defense around the rim or getting in there to make it tough for guards to get an easy lay up is near non existent like in college.

I personally don't care much about his offense right now. He is very efficient and I think that will come when we have a more competent PG and our other scoring options back to relieve pressure.

I do agree that people are overreacting to the game when we were missing our two best players/scorers and already have a very thin roster to start with.

Those efficient offensive numbers are empty because we're not winning but when we start winning, that 16/10 becomes more valuable and then becomes important scoring contribution on a winning team.

It's all about team success. When the team sucks and we can't win, those 25/15 don't mean **** because it's just perceived as a guy putting up stats on a bad team, "anyone can do that". Kyrie Irving was already a really good scorer by the end of his rookie season (good efficiency too) but he was largely seen as a flashy but empty scorer because he didn't have much team success. When Lebron came on board and they started winning, that same 20/5 became super important and his skill set as a guy who can create his own offense became not just valuable but a vital contribution to the Cavs offense.

Empty stats are putting up big raw numbers on bad efficiency, like Jackson down the stretch last year. Ayton's offensive stats are not empty...they are efficient. Unfortunately we don't have anyone else who is efficient right now other than TJ who is out. Booker's efficiency has tanked, partly due to his injuries and partly due to being trapped by defenders.

But the biggest thing is our defense can't stop anyone.

I guess it's a difference on your interpretation of empty stats. I've seen people talk about empty stats as being broadly good numbers regardless of efficiency on bad teams (JJ), I've also seen good numbers on bad efficiency (Wiggins) and I've also seen good numbers but bad defense (e.g Ayton).

Our defense stinks, absolutely stinks.

[DirtyDez]

McD made up his mind on Ayton the day of the lottery. Sarver wanted Doncic as reported by Ryan Russillo on his podcast. Sarver fired McD when they realized they made a mistake early in the preseason. McD never did a deep psychological dive on Ayton and deserved to be fired because of it.

When was this podcast? I imagine if Sarver watched Ayton closely at AZ, which he probably did, being an alum, would have concerns like most of us who watched him and how teams exploited him. I mean a die hard Suns fan and AZ fan and long time poster gave up on the team after the draft.

Seems a little early to make that judgement during the preseason, though I think it was the right one. I mean you could see Doncic had ice in his veins and was extremely competitive with that will to win which Ayton seemed to lack.

Ayton still has a lot of time to turn things around but that competitive nature and IQ, instincts might be tough things for someone to develop. You could argue those things you either have or you don't.

At least he scores really efficiently and rebounds well most of the time, and seems to be a pretty good passer for a C.

Right after the Euroloeague final 4. He said Sarver loved Doncic but the front office wanted Ayton. If you can find that show it will be on there.

[bwgood77]

McD made up his mind on Ayton the day of the lottery. Sarver wanted Doncic as reported by Ryan Russillo on his podcast. Sarver fired McD when they realized they made a mistake early in the preseason. McD never did a deep psychological dive on Ayton and deserved to be fired because of it.

When was this podcast? I imagine if Sarver watched Ayton closely at AZ, which he probably did, being an alum, would have concerns like most of us who watched him and how teams exploited him. I mean a die hard Suns fan and AZ fan and long time poster gave up on the team after the draft.

Seems a little early to make that judgement during the preseason, though I think it was the right one. I mean you could see Doncic had ice in his veins and was extremely competitive with that will to win which Ayton seemed to lack.

Ayton still has a lot of time to turn things around but that competitive nature and IQ, instincts might be tough things for someone to develop. You could argue those things you either have or you don't.

At least he scores really efficiently and rebounds well most of the time, and seems to be a pretty good passer for a C.

Right after the Euroloeague final 4. He said Sarver loved Doncic but the front office wanted Ayton. If you can find that show it will be on there.

I was trying to find all those podcasts today...I listened partially to a couple but I guess that narrows it down. I'm kind of surprised this isn't more out there, but I'll have to listen to it. I do remember Sarver flying out to watch him. Probably reminded him of Nash.

[lilfishi22]

When was this podcast? I imagine if Sarver watched Ayton closely at AZ, which he probably did, being an alum, would have concerns like most of us who watched him and how teams exploited him. I mean a die hard Suns fan and AZ fan and long time poster gave up on the team after the draft.

Seems a little early to make that judgement during the preseason, though I think it was the right one. I mean you could see Doncic had ice in his veins and was extremely competitive with that will to win which Ayton seemed to lack.

Ayton still has a lot of time to turn things around but that competitive nature and IQ, instincts might be tough things for someone to develop. You could argue those things you either have or you don't.

At least he scores really efficiently and rebounds well most of the time, and seems to be a pretty good passer for a C.

Right after the Euroloeague final 4. He said Sarver loved Doncic but the front office wanted Ayton. If you can find that show it will be on there.

I was trying to find all those podcasts today...I listened partially to a couple but I guess that narrows it down. I'm kind of surprised this isn't more out there, but I'll have to listen to it. I do remember Sarver flying out to watch him. Probably reminded him of Nash.

Seems a bit inconsistent if Sarver wanted Luka but the front office wanted Ayton but when we drafted Ayton, Sarver supposedly veto'd a trade for SGA which would've made sense to pair Ayton with a PG. Not sure what's going on