He can help push Deandre Ayton
Anything the Phoenix Suns can do to push Deandre Ayton towards greatness can only better help both he and the franchise, and Noah has been in this league for a very long time and been very successful, so one would assume he knows all of the tricks of the trade.
That is not at all to say that he should be signed to fill some sort of coach on the court-esque deal like what was expected with Tyson Chandler, this is more about practice – yes, practice.
Joakim Noah was calling out for a double-team in a pick-up game in August – with players whom he had never played with in an actual NBA game. He obviously takes every game he participates in seriously, whether there is 15,000 fans in attendance or not.
Phoenix Suns
It seems obvious then that he would bring that kind of intensity to practice every day, and with his years of play behind him – that has often included dominance on the boards – he can help keep Ayton on his toes at all times, something that will certainly help the young center’s game once the fans actually show up to watch.
Some may say: “well they have Aron Baynes to help with that,” which is true. But consider the two different style’s in each of their games.
Imagine too, them both double-teaming Ayton.
Putting as much pressure on the hopeful superstar as possible now will only help him years down the line with both Noah and Baynes are not only no longer on the roster, but out of the league.
I also cannot help but envision what the San Antonio Spurs did in the late 1990s with Will Perdue plus David Robinson and Tim Duncan to help defend Shaquille O’Neal during actual games. The Spurs were able to throw three big men after him who could collect 18 combined fouls on the future Shaqtus.
More importantly, they each gave Shaq different looks defensively which would cause him to adjust his game against multiple different big.
The same tactic can be employed on Ayton in practice, which will better suit his learning to play the position game-in-and-game-out against others around the league.