Deandre Ayton unsurprisingly appears on list no player wants to be part of

One of the areas that the Phoenix Suns have quickly and quietly made massive strides this season in how they are evaluating and adding talent to their roster.

Gone are the days when big names like Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were added at massive costs. Now it is all about Jordan Goodwin on the minimum and taking a risk on Mark Williams and his upside.

Deandre Ayton named one of NBA's most overrated players

Phoenix has long forgotten about center Deandre Ayton, the defensive anchor of their 2021 NBA Finals roster. These days he's expected to be the solution to many of the Los Angeles Lakers' defensive problems.

Not that he answers them on a consistent basis, with Bleacher Report putting Ayton sixth on their list of the most overrated players in the league today. A touch low perhaps?

Bleacher Report is clearly looking for engagement in having Draymond Green top this particular list, but we're not here to argue about that.

Instead this is a chance to marvel at the job General Manager Brian Gregory, and the front office in place prior to his arrival, have done in moving on so comprehensively from the Ayton experience.

There were missteps, although Jusuf Nurkic has rehabbed his own value some with the Utah Jazz having been exactly what the Durant/Devin Booker Suns did not need in the middle.

The Lakers making the same mistakes that the Suns of the past few seasons also fell foul to. When you've got superstars you will chase any solution to try and win big, and Ayton's name got him to Los Angeles more than his play with the Suns (post 2021) or the Portland Trail Blazers ever did.

Contrast that with what has happened in The Valley, with the Williams trade having paid off and the Suns also having a young center in Khaman Maluach who if nothing else still has time to flesh out his raw game.

The franchise even managed to find a short-term solution to their Nurkic problem in Nick Richards, before flipping him to save money while not getting caught up with another ageing big who is past their best.

Ayton's motor will always be questioned and on some nights he actually looks like exactly what the Lakers need in order to be contenders.

But there is zero consistency to when that guy shows up, a problem the Suns left behind them long ago and which deservedly puts him on this list.