With the first pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns selected center Deandre Ayton first overall. Let’s take a look back on his impact with the franchise after year one.
The first Phoenix Suns first overall pick didn’t play like Luka Doncic. Or Trae Young. Or Marvin Bagley.
No, instead Deandre Ayton played like himself during his first NBA season and there’s no denying the impact he had from day one.
The former Arizona Wildcat not only averaged 16.3 points a game for the Suns, but tacked on 10.3 rebounds for good measure. He was one of only three rookies in the past decade to average a double-double (Blake Griffin, Karl Anthony-Towns), and the first in Phoenix Suns franchise history.
Even more impressive was that Ayton was ranked 13th in the entire league in rebounds per game.
Among rookies, Ayton was the only to average double-digit rebounding, besting second-place Doncic (7.8) by a wide margin.
While his rebounding ability was easily the best from his rookie class, most people tend to only focus on the scoring column. That’s one of the main reasons Ayton isn’t considered a shoe-in to win Rookie of the Year.
At the moment, Ayton was one of three rookies named finalists for the award (Young, Doncic) but many consider him a stretch behind the other two.
That’s due to the numerous headlines Doncic and Young made in their own first season.
Doncic dazzled with his innate ability to cut through NBA defenses and score almost at will. Young struggled before finding his stroke after the All-Star break putting up big game after big game with the Hawks. Each used the positive publicity to their advantage, catapulting them to early NBA fame.
But on the flip side there was Ayton, who let his play do the talking.
On the season, Ayton was fourth among NBA rookies in scoring, but what stands out is his 58.5 shooting percentage from the field.
Among rookies averaging over 10 field goal attempts, Ayton was more than 8.0 points ahead of his nearest competition.
Yes, Ayton plays at the center position and lives in the paint to score, but at that clip he was also among the most efficient bigmen in the league.
All this coming in Phoenix desert where some say souls go to end their careers.
But for Ayton, it allowed him to play without constant criticism or distractions.
In his first NBA season, he racked up 134 dunks while serving as the second fiddle to Devin Booker.
The two have already been compared to the duo of a young Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
Even better for the Suns, Ayton provided something a long time missing for the team: a reliable center.
Phoenix Suns
For the past five seasons, Phoenix had yet to land a franchise center relying on players like Tyson Chandler, Alex Len amd Miles Plumlee to say the least.
But with Ayton, the Suns found a mixture of productively and consistency, two skills very hard to come by in a single player.
During his rookie season, Ayton suited up in 71 games for Phoenix, starting in all but one.
While some other rookies missed significant chunks of the year with injuries or struggled to find their way in the professional level, Ayton made a seamless transition.
One season removed from his freshman season at Arizona, Ayton showed his case on why he deserved to be the Suns’ pick at first overall.
Not only did Ayton nearly match his insane shooting and rebounding numbers from college, he did so against much steeper competition. All while, improving both his free throw percentages and assists per game averages.
This came after playing over double the amount of games he played in his freshman and only college season (35).
Ayton showed an ability to share the ball, but when needed, to attack the rim. That got him to the line 189 times, where he consistently hit his free throws (74.6 %).
Some can argue Ayton was a liability on defense, but the intangibles tell a very different story.
At seven-foot-one, Ayton often towers over his competition and he has served as an anchor for the Phoenix defense. Yes, he may have lapses on defense, but at only 20-years-old Ayton has plenty of time to adapt to the speed and complexity of the NBA game.
While many will remember this as historic rookie seasons for Luka Doncic and Trae Young, this might just be the beginning of a long and shinning career for Ayton.
And as long as he sticks to playing like Deandre Ayton, it looks like the Suns found themselves another franchise player to build around.