Deandre Ayton news and discussion

[bwgood77]

I'm over Ayton ever becoming a 1st, 2nd or even 3rd option on an elite team. Ayton's comment about not being focused on offense and having largely stagnant offense since he joined the NBA doesn't bother me anymore because I've stopped expecting him to be much more on that side of the court. If his peak is Gobert with less weaknesses on both sides of the court then that's a pretty good player.

What I was and continue to be frustrated with is just small things like not taking it to the basketball with force. Is he just lazy? Missing opportunities for anything (points, FTA's) because he decides to lay it up (unsuccessfully) when he should have and could have put a little more effort into getting close to the basket is what I'm talking about. On most nights he's the biggest and most athletic big on the court but so often when he has single coverage as a roll man or a few steps from the basket with minimal defense, he'd pass it off.

A lot of times those passes are good and what we want but then again, a lot of those passes just aren't what we need when we need to get to the line and points in the paint. That's what we need from him

Bigs are just not top options on elite teams typically. Maybe you consider Denver an elite team...so you have Jokic..who scored 1.7 more PPG last year than Ayton. Obviously his skill is passing though.

AD is obviously a top option on an elite team now that he is playing with LeBron, one of the best players ever, but then again, for a near decade he couldn't even usually lead a team to the playoffs, even with other solid players like Jrue and Gordon. They made it twice I think, once when they had Cousins, and once early and got swept.

Towns is a better player but obviously the TWolves are not an elite team...even after adding DLo and another top pick..actually probably one of the worst in the west.

Sabonis is better (though not better in his 3rd year) and scored the same number of ppg last year in his 4th year as Ayton in his 2nd year....but is Indiana an elite team?

I guess you could mention Bam, but in his 2nd year he scored 8.9 ppg compared to Ayton's 18.2. Last year Bam scored 15.9 ppg. I don't really consider Miami an elite team though...I think they just went on a tear last year they will be hard pressed to repeat unless other teams face injuries.

Embiid obviously is the #1 option on a solid team and scored a couple more ppg in his 3rd year than Ayton did in his 2nd.

But most of the guy's calling cards are different....Jokic, Bam and Sabonis on offense are more of initiators and passing big men..if Ayton passed as much as them people here would REALLY be irate that he did so and didn't shoot more instead.

Towns is mostly a 3 pt shooter.

I guess you can say Vucevic is the top option...but the Magic not too elite and their fans always complain about him.

There are really only a handful of bigs that are that good on offense, and most of the elite teams just don't utilize bigs for offense...it's just not efficient usually if you are talking about the type of offense you mention.

The ones that are the best on offense have added 3s (Towns, Vucevic, Embiid, Sabonis)...it's not working down low that necessarily made them big offensive threats in today's game. Sure they are all pretty good at it, but Ayton also has some moves with a nice hook shot, short fadeaway, etc, 120 games into his career.

I know one of the main reasons I am more patient with him and happy with him as a player is that my expectations were not as high as many when he came into the NBA, and he has surpassed almost all of them, and I think most of his critics did not expect him to be the best big in his draft class, but I think he is by actually a considerable amount and improving.

Of course there are many who care primarily about PPG for players but despite his scoring going down now that we have more weapons he is having his most efficient year because he isn't forcing too many things against double teams and is finding the open guy when he attracts a second defender, which is a good play.

Another positive about him being more efficient this year is that it comes in a year he is trying to incorporate a 3 ball and hasn't done well with that yet....though few bigs do 120 games into their career.

[Revived]

What I was and continue to be frustrated with is just small things like not taking it to the basketball with force. Is he just lazy? Missing opportunities for anything (points, FTA's) because he decides to lay it up (unsuccessfully) when he should have and could have put a little more effort into getting close to the basket is what I'm talking about. On most nights he's the biggest and most athletic big on the court but so often when he has single coverage as a roll man or a few steps from the basket with minimal defense, he'd pass it off.

A lot of times those passes are good and what we want but then again, a lot of those passes just aren't what we need when we need to get to the line and points in the paint. That's what we need from him

I think you summed this up perfectly. He attacks the rim like a 40 yr old at the local gym. It's in a really nonchalant way as if it's just him playing in an empty gym with no defenders around. This is how he gets blocked quite a bit (got blocked at least twice by Turner today on plays where he should have drawn fouls).

I'll post some clips in the next post of what I think your talking about as well. His first, second and third preference seems to be to pass the ball when he catches it unless it's on a direct roll to the rim even then it's 50/50.

Edit: I want to add, I don’t think the bolded part is true. He has decent lateral quickness but otherwise his athleticism really isn’t anything special and apparently this was known before the draft (I didn’t know either though tbh). But yes he is 7’0 tall and definitely more capable of going stronger at the rim.

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[Revived]

Ayton just has to be quicker when he catches the ball. Already looking to pass the ball right when he touches the ball instead of looking to score. It doesn't matter if a guard or center is on him, his first instinct is to look to pass or wait for the double and then pass. Putting up a shot is like 3rd or 4th option in his mind.

Here's a good example of it. He has the 6'5 Brogdon on him and instead of attacking him after catching the ball, he just waits for the double team. His eyes nor his head even turns to the rim to even think about scoring.

Spoiler:

He does this about 5-6 times every game even when he has good positioning and a big is guarding him but I found this particular play to be frustrating because he waited for the double even with a guard defending him on the block.

And the whole Ayton going up soft at the rim has been talked about ad nauseam and we all somewhat agree that it doesn't matter how he scores because it's all worth the same amount of points. But plays like the one below where he goes up really soft is why needs to try and just dunk it on defender's head because even if he misses, he would likely draw the foul. He needs to use that long wingspan of his which was touted before the draft.

Spoiler:

Ayton's starting to earn a reputation around the league for being soft as well. It's one thing when our own commentators like EJ and then Chambers during postgame always tough about how Ayton needs to man up and play more physically but it's especially embarrassing when other teams announcers are doing it too. Noticed it in 2 other games before as well. Pacers announcer is just clowning Ayton on this play where he gets outmuscled out of the paint almost and forced into a crappy shot by Sabonis who is not known for his defense. Listen to the Pacers commentator especially the part at the end.

Spoiler:

Ayton needs to play more like Sabonis imo. Play below is a great example of what I think many Suns fans want to see out of Ayton. Decent defense by Ayton but just really good offense by Sabonis using his size and footwork to score. Imagine how much lethal we would be if we had this type of inside scoring available to compliment all the 3pt shooting we have.

Btw the Pacers commentator rips Ayton again on his play if you hear the whole thing, he almost mocks the fadeaway that DA scores on the other end lol.

Spoiler:

We can't just live off scoring a super high amount of 3s every game for the full season, there's gonna be many nights when 3s don't fall and on those nights, Ayton has to score himself instead of waiting for the double and kicking it out for 3pt attempt when we're not hitting. And the double only comes when he has a mismatch, if it's a big then they don't even bother doubling and Ayton's still kicking it out even with good position inside.

[Saberestar]

We are winning and he is a big factor for us on both sides. I am OK with him.

He played a terrible first half against the Pacers but he was great in the second half. We couldn't win without him, no doubt about it. He scored 8 points and gave us huge stops on defense.

Obviously I would love more consistency out of him, but that's the next step.

[sunsbg]

He was not waiting for double-teams just to pass it out during his rookie season and in general played more physical, so his latest trends have something to do with how the team wants to play, chucking 3s, at least partially. It's like he has bought into this mindset. Even if it was all about his instincts you would expect coaches would be all over him to change that and shoot over smaller players around the post.

https://youtu.be/sZUWPjmF-aM?t=190

[Qwigglez]

Definitely frustrating watching Ayton sometimes, but I still feel it's Monty's system that we are utilizing Ayton this way. In that first clip, Ayton is clearly baiting the defense, I assume Ayton trust his teammates to knock down their threes. As a team we are shooting 38% so far this season, as opposed to last season we shot just under 36%, Also, we are shooting about 7 more 3's per game than we are from last season. It's clearly part of the gameplan. When teams stop doubling Ayton, he'll hopefully punish them for it in the paint. IN which I feel he has, because he is shooting 81% from within 0-3 feet.
I do feel we are underutilizing Ayton offensively, but then again perhaps he doesn't have the skillset at this point in his career. I'm hoping he can be used more like Sabonis or even Al Horford. Horford has never taken 15 FGA's a game for an entire NBA season. Also I don't particularly care that the Pacers commentators are ripping Ayton for being soft, now if the Suns were 1-8 then okay I get it, but we are winning so who cares.


Also I would hate it if Ayton wanted to start explosively dunking like Amare because he wants to get rid of the soft label and end up needing surgery on his knees. I'm fine with Ayton taking the easy layup and having a longer career.

[NTB]

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[Saberestar]

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Good help defense from Crowder.

[bwgood77]

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I know this was pointed out by darealjuice, but he has dunked a lot more in the past. 135 times as a rookie in about 70 games, so almost 2 a game...and then 83 times in 38 games (32 starts) last year so about so about 2.2 times a game.

In the last two years, Embiid, for example (only other guy I looked at) had 116 in 64 games two years ago, so less than 2 a game (Ayton's rookie year) and 47 dunks in 51 games last year.

I doubt any, or many other bigs have had more dunks per game than him the last two years...barely any Cs have even scored as much. Maybe Towns.

No, actually checked....two years ago 105 in 77 games...so less than 1.5 and last year 38 in 35 games.


I am not sure why he is dunking less this year but I imagine because it's early in the season and he's not in great shape yet.

[DirtyDez]

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I know this was pointed out by darealjuice, but he has dunked a lot more in the past. 135 times as a rookie in about 70 games, so almost 2 a game...and then 83 times in 38 games (32 starts) last year so about so about 2.2 times a game.

In the last two years, Embiid, for example (only other guy I looked at) had 116 in 64 games two years ago, so less than 2 a game (Ayton's rookie year) and 47 dunks in 51 games last year.

I doubt any, or many other bigs have had more dunks per game than him the last two years...barely any Cs have even scored as much. Maybe Towns.

No, actually checked....two years ago 105 in 77 games...so less than 1.5 and last year 38 in 35 games.


I am not sure why he is dunking less this year but I imagine because it's early in the season and he's not in great shape yet.

There was a lot of meaningless basketball two years ago in Phoenix. He probably just wasn’t overthinking it and flushed it down more times... With higher intensity games he’s less aggressive I think. His hands are also worse which for a pretty coordinated big man is concerning. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to put our finger on it why he is the way he is.

[bwgood77]

I know this was pointed out by darealjuice, but he has dunked a lot more in the past. 135 times as a rookie in about 70 games, so almost 2 a game...and then 83 times in 38 games (32 starts) last year so about so about 2.2 times a game.

In the last two years, Embiid, for example (only other guy I looked at) had 116 in 64 games two years ago, so less than 2 a game (Ayton's rookie year) and 47 dunks in 51 games last year.

I doubt any, or many other bigs have had more dunks per game than him the last two years...barely any Cs have even scored as much. Maybe Towns.

No, actually checked....two years ago 105 in 77 games...so less than 1.5 and last year 38 in 35 games.


I am not sure why he is dunking less this year but I imagine because it's early in the season and he's not in great shape yet.

There was a lot of meaningless basketball two years ago in Phoenix. He probably just wasn’t overthinking it and flushed it down more times... With higher intensity games he’s less aggressive I think. His hands are also worse which for a pretty coordinated big man is concerning. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to put our finger on it why he is the way he is.

I did always feel while he was learning to become a better defender, particularly with help defense, that he overthought things, and would freeze..

and now that you mention the overthinking...thinking about watching him play, I think that's it...I think as he gets so much in his ear about what to do, he overthinks things and this likely impacts both him just doing things more instictively and he ends up not only dunking it less, but yes, his hands are not as good. I have a hard time believing he is suddenly that much less athletic or suddenly really has worse hands.

It seems he has worked on more moves, like the hook shot, or fadeway, but at the same time I think he does face more double teams this year.

[NapoleonII]

You never really know how and when it will click for some players, why it happens to some and not others, why some come into the league and immediately produce at a high level (Duncan, CP3) or who will get better and better every year until they're all-stars (Jermaine O'Neal, Gilbert Arenas).

The old adage it takes longer for big-man is still true. Ayton is 22 freaking years old. It's not an era built for his offense. So Monty is focusing on his defense which Ayton, frankly, has a grade of A+ from me.

And I've seen enough to keep trusting that Ayton will be an all-star someday.

[bigfoot]

I know this was pointed out by darealjuice, but he has dunked a lot more in the past. 135 times as a rookie in about 70 games, so almost 2 a game...and then 83 times in 38 games (32 starts) last year so about so about 2.2 times a game.

In the last two years, Embiid, for example (only other guy I looked at) had 116 in 64 games two years ago, so less than 2 a game (Ayton's rookie year) and 47 dunks in 51 games last year.

I doubt any, or many other bigs have had more dunks per game than him the last two years...barely any Cs have even scored as much. Maybe Towns.

No, actually checked....two years ago 105 in 77 games...so less than 1.5 and last year 38 in 35 games.


I am not sure why he is dunking less this year but I imagine because it's early in the season and he's not in great shape yet.

There was a lot of meaningless basketball two years ago in Phoenix. He probably just wasn’t overthinking it and flushed it down more times... With higher intensity games he’s less aggressive I think. His hands are also worse which for a pretty coordinated big man is concerning. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to put our finger on it why he is the way he is.

I did always feel while he was learning to become a better defender, particularly with help defense, that he overthought things, and would freeze..

and now that you mention the overthinking...thinking about watching him play, I think that's it...I think as he gets so much in his ear about what to do, he overthinks things and this likely impacts both him just doing things more instictively and he ends up not only dunking it less, but yes, his hands are not as good. I have a hard time believing he is suddenly that much less athletic or suddenly really has worse hands.

It seems he has worked on more moves, like the hook shot, or fadeway, but at the same time I think he does face more double teams this year.

There are so many factors regarding the number of reduced dunks by Ayton

First, he is getting fewer shots per game (12.3, 14.9, 9.5) compared to his first and second seasons. We could say a lot of it is because others are taking his shots such as Bridges, Crowder, Johnson, Paul, and Payne. Last year he took the second-most attempts and this year it is the fourth.

Next, it's obvious there is a shift to more three-point shooting. Last year just under 32 per game and this season 39 per game. He's the gravity for getting so many of those three by setting screens and rolling for Booker and Paul.

Most importantly though is the change of pace. Last year the Suns held a pace of 101.3 and this year it is 96.3. That's five fewer possessions per game. I imagine most of this is due to the defense of Suns forcing teams to use much of the shot clock. He is also playing two fewer minutes per game as his efforts are going towards defense. His fouls are up to which could be reducing his minutes but remember last season many complained he would not give fouls and often ended up with no fouls in a game playing tentatively.

What we should really be looking at is his shooting percentages by distance. So far his numbers from 0-3 ft, 3-10 ft, and 10-16ft are the best in his short career. His numbers from 16ft to 3p range are worse, however, he's not taking as many shots from that range going from 10% last year to 6% this year.

His offensive definitely looks down this year but we are still early in the season and he and Paul are trying to figure it out. Even Booker has never been a great passer to Ayton. Last night Booker made a great assist to Ayton in the fourth on a delayed PnR for a dunk. Hopefully, we see more of that in the future.

It's easier to get on the Ayton train when the Suns are winning

[cberry78]

How many of the C's that DA has been compared to have been the #1 option, best player on their teams? It's really not fair to compare his production against those guys for the simple fact that whether or not he is as good as those C's (or close to it), DA is NOT the first option on this team, and in reality it's possible that he's the 3rd or even 4th best player on this Suns team.

If Embiid, KAT, Jokic, Duncan, Hakeem, etc were the 3rd or 4th option on their teams they wouldn't have the production that they've had either.

[lilfishi22]

I'm over Ayton ever becoming a 1st, 2nd or even 3rd option on an elite team. Ayton's comment about not being focused on offense and having largely stagnant offense since he joined the NBA doesn't bother me anymore because I've stopped expecting him to be much more on that side of the court. If his peak is Gobert with less weaknesses on both sides of the court then that's a pretty good player.

What I was and continue to be frustrated with is just small things like not taking it to the basketball with force. Is he just lazy? Missing opportunities for anything (points, FTA's) because he decides to lay it up (unsuccessfully) when he should have and could have put a little more effort into getting close to the basket is what I'm talking about. On most nights he's the biggest and most athletic big on the court but so often when he has single coverage as a roll man or a few steps from the basket with minimal defense, he'd pass it off.

A lot of times those passes are good and what we want but then again, a lot of those passes just aren't what we need when we need to get to the line and points in the paint. That's what we need from him

Bigs are just not top options on elite teams typically. Maybe you consider Denver an elite team...so you have Jokic..who scored 1.7 more PPG last year than Ayton. Obviously his skill is passing though.

AD is obviously a top option on an elite team now that he is playing with LeBron, one of the best players ever, but then again, for a near decade he couldn't even usually lead a team to the playoffs, even with other solid players like Jrue and Gordon. They made it twice I think, once when they had Cousins, and once early and got swept.

Towns is a better player but obviously the TWolves are not an elite team...even after adding DLo and another top pick..actually probably one of the worst in the west.

Sabonis is better (though not better in his 3rd year) and scored the same number of ppg last year in his 4th year as Ayton in his 2nd year....but is Indiana an elite team?

I guess you could mention Bam, but in his 2nd year he scored 8.9 ppg compared to Ayton's 18.2. Last year Bam scored 15.9 ppg. I don't really consider Miami an elite team though...I think they just went on a tear last year they will be hard pressed to repeat unless other teams face injuries.

Embiid obviously is the #1 option on a solid team and scored a couple more ppg in his 3rd year than Ayton did in his 2nd.

But most of the guy's calling cards are different....Jokic, Bam and Sabonis on offense are more of initiators and passing big men..if Ayton passed as much as them people here would REALLY be irate that he did so and didn't shoot more instead.

Towns is mostly a 3 pt shooter.

I guess you can say Vucevic is the top option...but the Magic not too elite and their fans always complain about him.

There are really only a handful of bigs that are that good on offense, and most of the elite teams just don't utilize bigs for offense...it's just not efficient usually if you are talking about the type of offense you mention.

The ones that are the best on offense have added 3s (Towns, Vucevic, Embiid, Sabonis)...it's not working down low that necessarily made them big offensive threats in today's game. Sure they are all pretty good at it, but Ayton also has some moves with a nice hook shot, short fadeaway, etc, 120 games into his career.

I know one of the main reasons I am more patient with him and happy with him as a player is that my expectations were not as high as many when he came into the NBA, and he has surpassed almost all of them, and I think most of his critics did not expect him to be the best big in his draft class, but I think he is by actually a considerable amount and improving.

Of course there are many who care primarily about PPG for players but despite his scoring going down now that we have more weapons he is having his most efficient year because he isn't forcing too many things against double teams and is finding the open guy when he attracts a second defender, which is a good play.

Another positive about him being more efficient this year is that it comes in a year he is trying to incorporate a 3 ball and hasn't done well with that yet....though few bigs do 120 games into their career.

As mentioned, don't care about his PPG, don't care about him being a top 3 offensive option and don't care about him being an initiator. I've dropped my expectations way down. What I care about now is him not taking it to the hoop with force. Opportunities for And1's, free throw attempts, points and getting the defender into foul trouble are all there and what we need from him and when we spoon feed him those opportunities only for him to pass it out or try and avoid the contact, that frustrate me to no end.

[Revived]

How many of the C's that DA has been compared to have been the #1 option, best player on their teams? It's really not fair to compare his production against those guys for the simple fact that whether or not he is as good as those C's (or close to it), DA is NOT the first option on this team, and in reality it's possible that he's the 3rd or even 4th best player on this Suns team.

If Embiid, KAT, Jokic, Duncan, Hakeem, etc were the 3rd or 4th option on their teams they wouldn't have the production that they've had either.

Ayton is the 3rd or 4th option because he wants to be the 3rd or 4th option. Guys like Embiid and KAT don’t look to pass the ball as soon as they get it, their looking to attack and score.

Those guys are able to put the ball on the floor and score. Ayton takes a good 6 seconds to decide whether or not to wait for the double team and then he will post up very slowly and taken a shot if it’s 1 on 1 coverage.

He just has to be quicker with attacking offensively. I remember Alvin Gentry used to tell Dragic to stop looking to just pass as soon as he gets the ball and to attack. I know PG and C is vastly different but with the opportunities Ayton gets, they need to tell Ayton that he can’t pass and he needs to attack and score or get to the FT line.

[bwgood77]

How many of the C's that DA has been compared to have been the #1 option, best player on their teams? It's really not fair to compare his production against those guys for the simple fact that whether or not he is as good as those C's (or close to it), DA is NOT the first option on this team, and in reality it's possible that he's the 3rd or even 4th best player on this Suns team.

If Embiid, KAT, Jokic, Duncan, Hakeem, etc were the 3rd or 4th option on their teams they wouldn't have the production that they've had either.

Ayton is the 3rd or 4th option because he wants to be the 3rd or 4th option. Guys like Embiid and KAT don’t look to pass the ball as soon as they get it, their looking to attack and score.

Those guys are able to put the ball on the floor and score. Ayton takes a good 6 seconds to decide whether or not to wait for the double team and then he will post up very slowly and taken a shot if it’s 1 on 1 coverage.

He just has to be quicker with attacking offensively. I remember Alvin Gentry used to tell Dragic to stop looking to just pass as soon as he gets the ball and to attack. I know PG and C is vastly different but with the opportunities Ayton gets, they need to tell Ayton that he can’t pass and he needs to attack and score or get to the FT line.

A good 6 seconds? I think he passes a bit too much but he typically immediately makes the decision to pass or take it to the basket. The only times he might wait a second or two is when he has single coverage and he is backing down and getting ready to do a fadeway or hook shot or whatever.

[Revived]

How many of the C's that DA has been compared to have been the #1 option, best player on their teams? It's really not fair to compare his production against those guys for the simple fact that whether or not he is as good as those C's (or close to it), DA is NOT the first option on this team, and in reality it's possible that he's the 3rd or even 4th best player on this Suns team.

If Embiid, KAT, Jokic, Duncan, Hakeem, etc were the 3rd or 4th option on their teams they wouldn't have the production that they've had either.

Ayton is the 3rd or 4th option because he wants to be the 3rd or 4th option. Guys like Embiid and KAT don’t look to pass the ball as soon as they get it, their looking to attack and score.

Those guys are able to put the ball on the floor and score. Ayton takes a good 6 seconds to decide whether or not to wait for the double team and then he will post up very slowly and taken a shot if it’s 1 on 1 coverage.

He just has to be quicker with attacking offensively. I remember Alvin Gentry used to tell Dragic to stop looking to just pass as soon as he gets the ball and to attack. I know PG and C is vastly different but with the opportunities Ayton gets, they need to tell Ayton that he can’t pass and he needs to attack and score or get to the FT line.

A good 6 seconds? I think he passes a bit too much but he typically immediately makes the decision to pass or take it to the basket. The only times he might wait a second or two is when he has single coverage and he is backing down and getting ready to do a fadeway or hook shot or whatever.

I disagree. I’ll try to post some clips from the Pacers game where he posts up very slowly waiting for the double team so he can pass it out. 6 seconds is definitely an exaggeration but I’ve seen him hold the ball for close to 3 seconds where he has no intent of scoring and is basically praying for someone to double team him so he can get rid of the ball quick as possible.

He makes fast decisions if he’s passing the ball. It’s when he has single coverage and is expected to score when he goes very slowly.

You mentioned his efficiency being high earlier, I wonder how much of that is intentional and that’s why he doesn’t want to attempt many shots so he can protect that stat.

[bwgood77]

Ayton is the 3rd or 4th option because he wants to be the 3rd or 4th option. Guys like Embiid and KAT don’t look to pass the ball as soon as they get it, their looking to attack and score.

Those guys are able to put the ball on the floor and score. Ayton takes a good 6 seconds to decide whether or not to wait for the double team and then he will post up very slowly and taken a shot if it’s 1 on 1 coverage.

He just has to be quicker with attacking offensively. I remember Alvin Gentry used to tell Dragic to stop looking to just pass as soon as he gets the ball and to attack. I know PG and C is vastly different but with the opportunities Ayton gets, they need to tell Ayton that he can’t pass and he needs to attack and score or get to the FT line.

A good 6 seconds? I think he passes a bit too much but he typically immediately makes the decision to pass or take it to the basket. The only times he might wait a second or two is when he has single coverage and he is backing down and getting ready to do a fadeway or hook shot or whatever.

I disagree. I’ll try to post some clips from the Pacers game where he posts up very slowly waiting for the double team so he can pass it out. 6 seconds is definitely an exaggeration but I’ve seen him hold the ball for close to 3 seconds where he has no intent of scoring and is basically praying for someone to double team him so he can get rid of the ball quick as possible.

He makes fast decisions if he’s passing the ball. It’s when he has single coverage and is expected to score when he goes very slowly.

You mentioned his efficiency being high earlier, I wonder how much of that is intentional and that’s why he doesn’t want to attempt many shots so he can protect that stat.

I can't see him worrying about fg% in the sense of not taking shots just to protect it. He takes the occasional 3...he also tossed one up quickly at the end of the shot clock last night that had little chance because Paul got it to him at the last second.

[lilfishi22]

For me, the issue is less about how long he takes the make the decision. The issue is more that he's barely looking at scoring at all and in particular when the opportunity is open. The only time he has it in his mind to score is seemingly when there's a set run specifically for him to do his little turn around J (which admittedly has looked good). Outside of that, he's looking to defer as soon as an option to defer opens up. There are times when even spoon fed opportunities are so apparent for him to score the high % bucket (ie dunk), yet he elects to avoid contact where possible and either takes a more difficult (lower %) shot or he passes it out.

As Revived mentioned, he's really good when we're trying to get ball movement up because that ball is a hot potato when it lands in his hands. If the possession is for him to get a touch and to pass it off, he plays that role perfectly. I will even give him all the props for finding the open man among all the chaos in the paint a lot of the time.

But when it comes down to it, he can't make "offense isn't my priority" as the key theme. He *has* to be more assertive on that end and he *has* to take it strong to the rim when the opportunity is clearly there for him to do it.