DeAndre Ayton

[BlueSan]

Umm harsh or not, its about first impressions right now. I have little to no doubt he is a great guy otherwise like most if not all of these young athletes but as a fan of NBA and basketball as someone who used to play it quite seriously and someone who was not raised like that I just dislike that sort of attitude.

I do think its a good move by his agent though and that its mostly his work behind all of this.

1. Home kid (even though he is from Bahamas heh)
2. Get him to mingle with booker etc
3. Only work out with Suns
4. this statement
5. Maybe possible arrangement with the suns already?

[JMac1]

Umm harsh or not, its about first impressions right now. I have little to no doubt he is a great guy otherwise like most if not all of these young athletes but as a fan of NBA and basketball as someone who used to play it quite seriously and someone who was not raised like that I just dislike that sort of attitude.

I do think its a good move by his agent though and that its mostly his work behind all of this.

1. Home kid (even though he is from Bahamas heh)
2. Get him to mingle with booker etc
3. Only work out with Suns
4. this statement
5. Maybe possible arrangement with the suns already?

That's my point. I teach. I am very careful with my expectations and I am always trying to be aware of someone else's background and up bringing and how it may be different than mine. If a kid does something that I would view as not likable, I would just not like that behavior before I would automatically not like the kid. I would try to understand why the student did what he or she did or said; one act does not define a person. That's just me. Was it his attitude or response to a question? Defining an attitude during an interview is a slippery slope.

Enjoy your day.

[JMac1]

Watch on YouTube

[JMac1]

Watch on YouTube

[JMac1]

Watch on YouTube

[antonac]

Just weighing in that I wouldn't touch him.

He won't bust, he'll be great and put up 20ppg easily within his second season, he'll end up with a max contract.

but at the end of the day the suns will be built around a big man who isn't going to be doing much on defense, isn't going to be making his teammates better, they'll be stuck coming in at 6th or 7th seed with not really much idea what to do with him.

this whole draft is filled with amazing number 2 options and guys who are extremely risky number 1 options.

Still Doncic number 1 for me, as he's the only potential number 1 option that will easily transition to be your number 2.

[Prospect Dong]

Thabeet was old, mediocre athlete, had 0 offense and was good on defense, quite a bit different than Ayton. Unbelievably for a guy picked 2nd over Harden and Curry nobody here was that surprised when Thabeet busted, some were already calling him ThaBust after he got drafted, he just had that look about the way he played, if you made a bust in a factory it would look like Thabeet. Memphis owner took the reigns with that pick late in the game after other prospects were dodging Memphis and had no idea what he was doing. Worst pick ever.

Yeah, this. Thabeet was viewed as a high risk pick in the 6-10 range prior to the draft - they type of guy you take a big swing for if there's no one on the board who actually excites you by that point. No serious basketball mind had him in the top 5, let alone #2, that was all on ownership.

Ayton doesn't compare at all, even under the general category of "guy who everyone thinks is great but who will bust due to the big holes in his game".

[Duke4life831]

This has to be one of the better strategic moves by his agent for sure.

He comes out and says he ll play in Phoenix, he only works for them, gets close to the players...plays the local boy card and basically twists the arm of general management in sense of.

You either take me or be extremely accountable if

a) I am great but not on your team
b) Pick you choose is not as great as I am

and to top it off, him coming out saying how he is the best.

Great move, but "ugly" I liked the guy before, dislike him now.

You really think because of this stuff, this is why the Suns are going to take him #1? Its not like Ayton was some fringe top 5 pick but did some great marketing and the Suns fell for it. Ayton was the #1 prospect in this class before Bagley reclassified, as a freshman he put up 20/11 with 2 blks a game on 65 TS%, he was a consensus 1st team all american and PAC 12 freshman and player of the year. He is 7'1 with a 7'4 wingspan and is a tremendous athlete for his size as well. He also has shown plenty of potential as being a big that will be able to step out and hit the 3 at some point in his career (probably sooner rather than later). Oh and he is #1 on just about every single major big board and mock draft.

Maybe its all of that stuff, maybe the Suns scouting department is seeing the same thing all these other major publications and people see with him. And they arent just getting fooled over by a marketing push by Ayton's agent.

This is coming from someone who does not have Ayton #1 on my own personal board (I have him #3 for guys coming out of college), but I can see and recognize that my view point is in the minority on this. I totally get why the majority of people and publications have Ayton as their #1 overall guy.

[thamadkant]

Just weighing in that I wouldn't touch him.

He won't bust, he'll be great and put up 20ppg easily within his second season, he'll end up with a max contract.

but at the end of the day the suns will be built around a big man who isn't going to be doing much on defense, isn't going to be making his teammates better, they'll be stuck coming in at 6th or 7th seed with not really much idea what to do with him.

this whole draft is filled with amazing number 2 options and guys who are extremely risky number 1 options.

Still Doncic number 1 for me, as he's the only potential number 1 option that will easily transition to be your number 2.

you're wrong because you are assuming Davis and Towns will not get a superstar or more help around them eventually and become a leader of an elite team.

Ayton if he becomes a 20ppg 12rpg big man... will have a 25/5/5 player in the perimeter with Booker... and Jackson is also projected to become somewhere like a 17/6/3 player with a 2 way game... and they still have many picks and expirings that could allow them to add more perimeter help and defenders at the 4 and 1 spot...

You only see one path... when there's plenty

[Saberestar]

Just weighing in that I wouldn't touch him.

He won't bust, he'll be great and put up 20ppg easily within his second season, he'll end up with a max contract.

but at the end of the day the suns will be built around a big man who isn't going to be doing much on defense, isn't going to be making his teammates better, they'll be stuck coming in at 6th or 7th seed with not really much idea what to do with him.

this whole draft is filled with amazing number 2 options and guys who are extremely risky number 1 options.

Still Doncic number 1 for me, as he's the only potential number 1 option that will easily transition to be your number 2.

The Suns are building around Booker, they are not gonna build around Ayton, Doncic or Bagley.

If Ayton is drafted he is gonna be a number 2 option, and I think that he can be great in that role.

[The-Power]

Maybe its all of that stuff, maybe the Suns scouting department is seeing the same thing all these other major publications and people see with him. And they arent just getting fooled over by a marketing push by Ayton's agent.

I'm not sure if my or your interpretation of his statements is accurate, but I would agree with the notion that Ayton's statements and commitment make it harder for the Suns to take someone else over him if they already considered Ayton for the top spot. Basically, if it was a 1A/1B situation with Doncic, this might very well have given Ayton the edge. The outrage if they don't take Ayton and he becomes great while Doncic doesn't reach this level would be much greater than vice versa, and recent developments with Ayton only added to that.

Obviously they ‘aren't just getting fooled over by a marketing push’ and won't take him if they are convinced that at least one player in this draft is a clearly better prospect than him. But if it's reasonably close between two players, politics and justifiability of the selection can play a major role in decision making processes. It's something we shouldn't underestimate because professional careers of executives and profits are on the line.

[antonac]

Just weighing in that I wouldn't touch him.

He won't bust, he'll be great and put up 20ppg easily within his second season, he'll end up with a max contract.

but at the end of the day the suns will be built around a big man who isn't going to be doing much on defense, isn't going to be making his teammates better, they'll be stuck coming in at 6th or 7th seed with not really much idea what to do with him.

this whole draft is filled with amazing number 2 options and guys who are extremely risky number 1 options.

Still Doncic number 1 for me, as he's the only potential number 1 option that will easily transition to be your number 2.

you're wrong because you are assuming Davis and Towns will not get a superstar or more help around them eventually and become a leader of an elite team.

Ayton if he becomes a 20ppg 12rpg big man... will have a 25/5/5 player in the perimeter with Booker... and Jackson is also projected to become somewhere like a 17/6/3 player with a 2 way game... and they still have many picks and expirings that could allow them to add more perimeter help and defenders at the 4 and 1 spot...

You only see one path... when there's plenty

I'd say he was closer to Cousins though who has shown he struggled to lead a team to the play-offs and when he was put next to a legit superstar it's debatable whether he made a difference. If he's the next Davis you take him no.1, but he's not imo.

and I don't really agree you can just choose someone else to build round. an ok 1st option does not necessarily equal and elite second option. I'd worry Ayton will eat possessions and leave you exposed on defense, you might find yourself wishing you'd just taken Jackson or Bamba who won't give you all the points, but will box out and not get decimated in the pick n roll.

[NBA Fan 1234]

DeAndre Ayton strength/weakness article + video (with voiceovers).

http://thefrontofficeeye.com/2018/06/08/deandre-ayton-scouting-report/

(Doncic, Bags, Zhaire, Lonnie, etc are also up at the site - excuse the poor layout...I'm working on it.)


Feel free to share it, if you like it, and leave me any comments via PM or however else! Also, I'm on twitter @frontofficeeye!

[Revived]

Just weighing in that I wouldn't touch him.

He won't bust, he'll be great and put up 20ppg easily within his second season, he'll end up with a max contract.

but at the end of the day the suns will be built around a big man who isn't going to be doing much on defense, isn't going to be making his teammates better, they'll be stuck coming in at 6th or 7th seed with not really much idea what to do with him.

this whole draft is filled with amazing number 2 options and guys who are extremely risky number 1 options.

Still Doncic number 1 for me, as he's the only potential number 1 option that will easily transition to be your number 2.

The Suns are building around Booker, they are not gonna build around Ayton, Doncic or Bagley.

If Ayton is drafted he is gonna be a number 2 option, and I think that he can be great in that role.

I hope Josh can surpass him as the number 2 option.

[JMac1]

Watch on YouTube

Tell em Jay.

[NotACat]

This may be harsh, but I can only see him being an athletic Enes Kanter

[JMac1]

This may be harsh, but I can only see him being an athletic Enes Kanter

Why would that be harsh

[Revived]

This may be harsh, but I can only see him being an athletic Enes Kanter

He has better range than Kanter.

His best comparison imo is a more athletic and less shooting Kevin Love.

[clyde21]

This may be harsh, but I can only see him being an athletic Enes Kanter

Well, considering Kanter is a 20/10 guy in his sleep...

Kanter's biggest issue is athleticism and foot speed, and if Ayton solves that, you have a perennial all star.

[bondom34]

This may be harsh, but I can only see him being an athletic Enes Kanter

Why would that be harsh

Enes is....not great. I think Ayton's way way way way way way way more athletic and has better foot speed. But Kanter is literally unplayable against any quick guards.