Deandre Ayton should take his 2K rating as a slight

On Sunday August 5, NBA2K released the game’s rating for Phoenix Suns rookie Deandre Ayton: 79. While lower than both he and Suns fans would have liked, there is an opportunity there that he should take advantage of.

Even if you do not play the video games, it is always interesting as a sports fan to learn of the ratings of your favorite players – rookies especially.

Every year as the game ratings of players are slowly leaked out, the players themselves, fans, and media alike, pour through the ratings and judge for themselves whether or not the rating itself is too high, low, or just right.

This season, no player on the Phoenix Suns’ roster has had more interest for their rating than Deandre Ayton. Sunday, August 5, the basketball world was finally made aware of his overall rating:

79.

For many Suns fans, and I’m sure Ayton himself, that number seemed a little low.

When the rating was announced, I immedaitely took to Twitter to ask fans what their thoughts on Ayton’s rating were. Most believed that indeed it was low, many expecting that he would have been rated at about 81 or at least an 80, where Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball were rated at the start of their rookie years.

Granted, not all ratings are alike. The system that 2K uses can affect a players rating based on a number of different sliders that are related to a whole wealth of individual attributes.

For instance, a guard might be rated a 79 because he is a great shooter, although his rebounding and blocking sliders are quite low. Ayton, on the other hand, will probably have lower shooting attributes, but because of his rebounding and blocking he’ll share a 79 with a guard, and any number of other players at every position.

That said, while Ayton might only be a couple of notches on one particular sliders away from an 80, being at a 79 comes with a natural stigma of not reaching the 80’s club – especially for the number one overall pick.

While a virtual game rating should not have any  role in a player’s ability to reach his potential on the actual court, having a rating of 79 should offer Ayton at least a little  additional momentum to push forward this season and become the best player he can be.

Why? Because 2K updates players ratings and scores every day, so as easily as he was rated a 79, the moment he proves he is better than that rating, 2K will update his sliders to manipulate his overall rating.

There is no reason that by the end of the season, if Ayton has a very good year, that his rating can’t reach the mid-to-upper 80s, a very positive sign for the Suns and their fans.

That said, if he wanted, he could – and should – take this rating as a bit of a slight.

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He was the College Player of the Year last season at the University of Arizona. He was the number one overall pick in the draft. He is projected by a great number of scouts and talking heads to be a dominant center in the NBA.

He also averaged a double-double in the Las Vegas Summer League and did so with ease, even though it was obvious that he was playing less for stats and more just to get through the schedule healthy, as well as his team’s lack of solid point guard play.

He has even stated this summer that his plan is to be both a 2019 All-Star and the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year.

Ayton thinks very highly of himself as an athlete (as he should) and probably believes that his rating should have been significantly higher than 79, particularly that he should have at least entered the league in the 80’s (as a rating, not the decade).

Therefore, while his rating should not play a role in his ability to reach his potential, Ayton should take his lower rating and use it to help motivate him towards the best possible season he can have. He should do what he can to up his offensive and defensive awareness sliders; up his shooting sliders; his rebound and shot blocking sliders; even his stamina slider; each individual and professional necessities to help his team win, but also up his 2K rating.

I’m sure that the team has some internal methods of keeping track of growth and player attributes, but there is no more public system of rating players than on the NBA2K video game, something that I am sure Ayton plays a lot, so seeing his personal rating spike will no doubt be a point of personal pride.

2018-19 is going to be a bellwether year for the Phoenix Suns, a season that is hopefully one to remember for many years to come for overall growth and development.

Deandre Ayton will be at the heart of the franchise’s improvement, and his lower rating should be used as internal motivation to be the best player he can possibly be.