Translating Aron Baynes’ World Cup performance to the Phoenix Suns’ upcoming season

There’s only so much one can glean from a handful of games against mediocre competition, but Aron Baynes played extremely well for Australia in their fourth place showing at the FIBA World Cup. Can he keep up this momentum as a member of the Phoenix Suns this season?

Here is the answer to a random trivia question for you: There is only one player on the Phoenix Suns’ roster who has won both an NBA championship and a FIBA gold medal. His name is Aron Baynes.

His NBA championship ring came courtesy of the 2014 San Antonio Spurs, and he earned his gold medal at the FIBA Oceania Championship in 2011.

The FIBA Oceania Championship didn’t exactly include basketball powerhouse countries, but if Patty Mills had made a free throw for Australia in the final seconds of the World Cup semi-finals game against Spain, Baynes could probably add “International tournament gold metal winner” to his résumé as well.

Baynes played substantial minutes for the Boomers this summer, and while it is smart not to view FIBA World Cup statistics as a predictive model for the upcoming NBA season, it sure is fun to try.

In a little over 21 minutes per game, Baynes averaged 11.4 points and 5.5 rebounds over the eight game stretch in China.

His two best performances came in Australia’s first round contest with Lithuania and their second round matchup with France. Baynes posted 21 points in each of those games and against Lithuania, he pulled down his tourney-best 13 rebounds.

Perhaps his most eye-popping stat, however, is found in the 3-point column.

Baynes shot 11 of 21 from behind the arc, which equates to a 52.4% clip.

Even with a limited sample size, that’s still very impressive.

This Stephen Curry-esque accuracy is a relatively new element to the big man’s game.

After hardly ever launching one from deep during his first six NBA seasons, Baynes hoisted 67 3’s last year for the Boston Celtics, making 23 of them for an average of 34.3%.

Okay, maybe that’s not quite Steph Curry-esque, but the ability to hit the outside shot is clearly something he has worked on inserting into his game.

The Phoenix Suns brought in Dario Šarić to be the frontcourt player who is already proven to stroke it from outside. But between his time at Boston last year and the Boomers this summer, Baynes too has shown he’s capable of knocking down the open 3 when given the opportunity.

Baynes will bring a lot more than stats to the Phoenix Suns this season. He will also bring his body. All 260 pounds of it of it.

Baynes’ intimidating physical presence also features the most impressive ginger beard on a dark-haired man the world has ever seen.

This red beard phenomenon on otherwise non-red-headed people is due to a rare genetic mutation, and its length is due to Baynes being awesome and letting the ginger flow.

It is unknown how this mutant beard will affect his game, but it seemed to work for him at the World Cup. There is no reason to think it won’t do the same when he gets to Phoenix.

In all seriousness, Baynes didn’t get the nickname Bangers  for no reason. He throws his massive frame around and when appropriate, throws it to the ground.

During the previously mentioned game against France, Baynes took three charges in the fourth quarter alone which helped the Aussies claw back from an eight-point deficit to get the win.

Like every single cliché-loving basketball announcer will tell you, those are the types of plays that don’t show up in the box score.

Afterwards, Baynes gave ABC Australia the most Outback quote ever when he said, “Our guys are busting their arse as best they can; I have to step up and put my body on the line.”

Phoenix Suns fans, at the very least, will see this attitude as extremely welcoming after watching years of centers like Dragan Bender and Alex Len seemingly go out of their way to avoid contact with other humans.

The Suns will look for Baynes to instill more of this tough physical mentality into their young star, Deandre Ayton, as well.

So, there you have it. Based on eight games this summer against middle-tier NBA players, Phoenix Suns fans can expect their newcomer, Aron Baynes, to average double figures, shoot 50% from beyond the arc, and take multiple charges every quarter, all while conveying these skills to Deandre Ayton by mid-season.

Not really.

But the Suns are getting a winning veteran with an improving outside game, a physical presence down low, and an absolutely amazing genetically mutated ginger beard.