It’s fair to say former University of Arizona standout Deandre Ayton failed to meet the NBA hype.
Even though the Los Angeles Lakers center’s NBA career is not over, it’s an objective truth at this juncture that both Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are superior players who should have gone No. 1 overall in the 2018 NBA draft instead with hindsight.
It’s even fair to argue that others in that draft class like Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges have been better in the pros than Ayton since being drafted.
The Lakers signed Ayton to a multi-year contract last summer after he was waived by the Portland Trail Blazers. DA was meant to be a pick-and-roll and lob threat to pair with Doncic — the guy the Suns should have selected at No. 1 overall instead of Ayton.
The early returns are leaving much to be desired in La La Land.
Lakers coach JJ Redick says Ayton is ‘frustrated’
In six games since returning to the court after missing two road games Dec. 18 and 20, Ayton has notched game scores under 10 three times. Ten is considered an average game score performance, a metric and formula created by John Hollinger to give a rough estimate of a player’s productivity for a single game.
In other words, Ayton is putting together below-average performances in half his games since his return.
“I think he’s frustrated,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said of the recent performances, as reported by Dave McMenamin. “He doesn’t feel like he’s getting the ball.”
Now, Ayton does have a point. His usage rate in LA is a career-low 17.5%, but that should be expected on a team with Doncic, LeBron James and even breakout guard Austin Reaves.
It’s a familiar refrain for Suns fans who watched the Ayton era play out in The Valley. There were no doubt moments where Ayton showed flashes of what he could become as a player when engaged, but the “when engaged” part was woefully inconsistent. When asked about the frequent jabs from critics questioning his motor, Ayton went on an Allen Iverson-esque mini rant that ended with him saying, “I run on Tesla battery.”
Ayton’s lowest usage rate in a season with the Suns was during the 2020-21 campaign when he had 18.2% usage. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) that was the year Phoenix made a run to the NBA Finals where they ultimately fell to the Milwaukee Bucks.
During his time in Phoenix, Ayton was benched in the playoffs in crucial moments by former Suns head coach Monty Williams, which led to this on-court blowup where Ayton was clearly upset and refused to dap up teammate Chris Paul.
In that Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, the Suns went on to win thanks to sterling performances from Kevin Durant (39 points, nine rebounds, eight assists) and Devin Booker (47 points, nine assists, six rebounds).
Ayton, meanwhile, finished with four points and nine rebounds and a -4 plus/minus in 25 minutes of action. Jokic finished with a 30-17-17 triple-double.
Near the end of his Suns tenure, ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith put the blame on Ayton for Williams’ time as coach coming to an end. “Deandre Ayton got Monty Williams fired,” Smith said on ESPN’s NBA Countdown in 2023.
Now, the tap dance of keeping Ayton engaged while maximizing what the rest of the roster can provide is Redick’s problem with the Lakers.
To this point in his first season with LA, Ayton has been a completely average offensive player with a 0.0 offensive box plus/minus. His defensive box plus/minus sits at -0.9, showing that he’s been worse than the average NBA player on that end of the court despite his height and length that he could use to be a dominant rim-protector.
The Suns and Trail Blazers reached the point where they were both comfortable moving on from the former No. 1 overall pick. Given that Ayton is already “frustrated” in LA according to his own coach, it’ll be interesting to see how long he lasts in purple and gold.