Deandre Ayton news and highlights

[spanishninja]

Serious question.

If DA ends up averaging 25/12 are people still going to complain?

It really depends on his defense.

If DeAndre Ayton becomes a plus on defense (he's certainly starting to trend that way - which is very encouraging) and he's a 25 /12 guy on high efficiency - not many people will blame the Suns for passing up on him.

If DeAndre Ayton ends up being an elite defender as well as an elite offensive player, people will argue that he's the right pick over Doncic.

If he turns out to be 25/12 guy with questionable defense - he'll be considered a disappointment when compared to players drafted behind him.

Overall it's pretty crazy that Ayton is already looking like a 20+ ppg guy without having a consistent go-to move yet or fully developed arsenal on offense yet.

All of this is kind of my point.

At what point does DA become a net positive like Booker is? Is it 25/12 (which I feel he'll be able to do without much effort)? Will he need to get to 28/15 on the offensive side with minimal D?

I understand that he will always be compared to the other players drafted in the same class as him, but in a vacuum, what does he need to achieve for Suns fans to stop comparing him to "those that shall not be named"?

he's been net positive so far, and in fact it's been his defense BPM that has gotten him there.

[lilfishi22]

I always want him to get to the line more often. 58min of game time so far over 2 games and he's gotten to the line once. Defensively he's looked competent

[ATTL]

Need more sample size but Afton's defensive field goal percentage so far is really good.

[Saberestar]

Serious question.

If DA ends up averaging 25/12 are people still going to complain?

First...it is not gonna be easy to average those numbers (25p, 12r) for an entire season, so that would be an improvement for sure in his play over his rookie season (16p, 10r).

But to stop definitely the complains he would need to add more to his game. It all depends on defense, awareness and intangibles.

There are players that you think about them and you understand that they are REALLY good and they impact the game even without big numbers. Al Horford comes to my mind.

He needs to get closer to that type of players in those small things (good screens, correct rotations on defense, taking some charge, drawing fouls on offense, intimidation....) and you will see that fans will not complain about him...or at least way less than now.

For now he has shown some improvement in those areas against the Kings and the Clippers, so hopefully he is on the right track. We will see.

[bwgood77]

Serious question.

If DA ends up averaging 25/12 are people still going to complain?

It really depends on his defense.

If DeAndre Ayton becomes a plus on defense (he's certainly starting to trend that way - which is very encouraging) and he's a 25 /12 guy on high efficiency - not many people will blame the Suns for passing up on him.

If DeAndre Ayton ends up being an elite defender as well as an elite offensive player, people will argue that he's the right pick over Doncic.

If he turns out to be 25/12 guy with questionable defense - he'll be considered a disappointment when compared to players drafted behind him.

Overall it's pretty crazy that Ayton is already looking like a 20+ ppg guy without having a consistent go-to move yet or fully developed arsenal on offense yet.

All of this is kind of my point.

At what point does DA become a net positive like Booker is? Is it 25/12 (which I feel he'll be able to do without much effort)? Will he need to get to 28/15 on the offensive side with minimal D?

I understand that he will always be compared to the other players drafted in the same class as him, but in a vacuum, what does he need to achieve for Suns fans to stop comparing him to "those that shall not be named"?

As Puddles said, it's more the defense. I would actually be happier with 20/11/5 ast/2.5 blk and elite defense than just 25/12. I am not sure he will ever be considered the "Right" pick, but now that he's back I don't see much complaining. In that game thread with the poll, I didn't see him really mentioned at all. If he can get even close to what Hakeem was..or maybe even a middle class man's Hakeem, I doubt many will complain or have huge regrets unless Dallas wins like 5-6 championships and we don't get to the finals or WCF.

[bwgood77]

Need KAT to demand a trade to PHX. Basically the only way out of this.

Lets see where Ayton gets first. It's premature. He will never shoot the 3 like that, and KAT also has some monster games with assists and blocks on top of rebounds and his D has gotten better, but there is a chance Ayton ends up having close to or more overall impact if he keeps progressing and is overall better on defense. A lot of people think KAT takes too many 3s as well, as great as he is from out there.

[bwgood77]

I always want him to get to the line more often. 58min of game time so far over 2 games and he's gotten to the line once. Defensively he's looked competent

Yes, this is big too, but it could in part be that he is a solid FT shooter. If he was terrible from the line, surely he would be fouled more.

[Jstock12]

Need more sample size but Afton's defensive field goal percentage so far is really good.

Sadly, even 30 games would be a negligible sample size for DFG. Way too much variance involved.

[Jstock12]

Need KAT to demand a trade to PHX. Basically the only way out of this.

Lets see where Ayton gets first. It's premature. He will never shoot the 3 like that

I don't think it's impossible for Ayton to become a good 3PT shooter. But it's very hard to project something like that. Some really good midrange shooters become good 3PT shooters (Towns), while some never do (DeRozan).

[Dual]

Read on Twitter

Ayton ruled out for Tomorrow. We are hopeless, imposible to make the playoffs like this.
I mean wtf.
What a meltdown...I'm speechless

[Mjee]

I am ****ing done with DA!!!!!!

He is a lackadaisical giant.

Plz put his ass in the trade block NOW while he still has some value !!!!!!!

[WeekapaugGroove]

It's hard being a suns fan.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[lilfishi22]

I always want him to get to the line more often. 58min of game time so far over 2 games and he's gotten to the line once. Defensively he's looked competent

Yes, this is big too, but it could in part be that he is a solid FT shooter. If he was terrible from the line, surely he would be fouled more.

It's a one game sample (since his return) but he was firing off those midrangers like he was prime Kobe. I get that it's the shots he got but a guy that big, that strong and that athletic should be working more inside or at least have a healthy balance between the midrange shot and shots in the paint. He's never going to get foul calls if he's never near contact

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

Ayton ruled out for Tomorrow. We are hopeless, imposible to make the playoffs like this.
I mean wtf.
What a meltdown...I'm speechless

I guess playoffs was always a bit of a long shot. Being competitive was the improvement we were after and for the most part, we've seen it. Shame we'll have to wait longer for Ayton to string together a couple of games together

Not a comparison but I've always been impressed with KAT's ability to stay healthy. Throughout his entire career, he's missed like 8 games. 5 last season and 3 so far this season. He played all 82 games in his first 3 seasons in the league.

[Dual]

Read on Twitter

Ayton ruled out for Tomorrow. We are hopeless, imposible to make the playoffs like this.
I mean wtf.
What a meltdown...I'm speechless

I guess playoffs was always a bit of a long shot. Being competitive was the improvement we were after and for the most part, we've seen it. Shame we'll have to wait longer for Ayton to string together a couple of games together

Not a comparison but I've always been impressed with KAT's ability to stay healthy. Throughout his entire career, he's missed like 8 games. 5 last season and 3 so far this season. He played all 82 games in his first 3 seasons in the league.

Not the way this year NBA is, but our injuries has been incredible.
Lot of games without centers, Rubio and Baynes out in the week with more games of the season, Booker out in key games against playoff oponents, and even last game Cam out to, so not a single shooter.
People can say everybody has injuries, but ours has been key in positions and also in worst timing weeks or oponents.
I'm so down right now, I just cant believe it, we are the youngest team, come on!

[Damkac]

Suns went from being the healthiest team to being one of the most injuried ones. Just everything about this team went wrong in last years.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

Ayton ruled out for Tomorrow. We are hopeless, imposible to make the playoffs like this.
I mean wtf.
What a meltdown...I'm speechless

Its' definitely really poor timing. And of course it really sucks, But again, These are the kinds of situations where having won those close games and having somewhat of a cushion would of really helped us. We just really need to work hard,
and concentrate on being competitive regardless of the playoff implications at this point. And try to build as much chemistry and cohesion amonst the roster as possible. Even if it's just in the interest of taking another step forward for next year.

I have us actually finishing at 38 - 44. But even if we only reach 32 wins, That's still a start in the right direction. And gives us something to build off of.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Suns went from being the healthiest team to being one of the most injuried ones. Just everything about this team went wrong in last years.

I wonder who we hired for our training staff once we let Aaron go. Could our litany of injuries this year be a partial reflection of inexperience on the part of the training staff, Or more likely sheer bad luck?

[bwgood77]

Need KAT to demand a trade to PHX. Basically the only way out of this.

Lets see where Ayton gets first. It's premature. He will never shoot the 3 like that

I don't think it's impossible for Ayton to become a good 3PT shooter. But it's very hard to project something like that. Some really good midrange shooters become good 3PT shooters (Towns), while some never do (DeRozan).

I think he can too, but Towns shoots nearly 42% from 3. I don't see Ayton getting to that. Towns might be the best 3 pt shooting true big of all time, at least with high volume. That's a tall order rom Ayton. If Ayton can get to 35% I'd be pretty happy, and like 37-38% I'd be really happy.

[Dual]

Lets see where Ayton gets first. It's premature. He will never shoot the 3 like that

I don't think it's impossible for Ayton to become a good 3PT shooter. But it's very hard to project something like that. Some really good midrange shooters become good 3PT shooters (Towns), while some never do (DeRozan).

I think he can too, but Towns shoots nearly 42% from 3. I don't see Ayton getting to that. Towns might be the best 3 pt shooting true big of all time, at least with high volume. That's a tall order rom Ayton. If Ayton can get to 35% I'd be pretty happy, and like 37-38% I'd be really happy.

He plays it as if he was a guard, step back 3s etc...
Impressive.