All Things Ayton

[iLLmatic]

That was a pretty ho hum response. Gives you a good gauge of what the fans think of him.

[TOO]

Good luck to Deandre but I'm done talking about him, the big 3 we've acquired deserves far more attention than this guy. Hope he enjoys that contract, I do not believe he gets another max.

[Flagrant Fowl]

[Kryptonic]

Like how amare said he has to “dominate in the paint”…. I’m sure ayton hears this and says “im literally dominayton in the paint”.

[ShelC]

Feels like you can hear the disgust in Amar'e's voice.

[Kryptonic]

Feels like you can hear the disgust in Amar'e's voice.

100%. It’s almost like he was screaming at his screen with the rest of us in aytons passiveness.

I think the valley oop probably did more damage to his brand…. We all assumed we were getting this monster dunker but ended up with Mr. Passive aggressive.

[Split T]

I watched that suns tip off special the team posted and they had a segment with Amare talking about the ring of honor mixed in with some Amare highlights. He was really a special finisher. So quick, so explosive, and so aggressive. Ayton had him on size, defense, rebounding…but merge those guys together and you’d probably have Hakeem.

[In2ition]

Feels like you can hear the disgust in Amar'e's voice.

100%. It’s almost like he was screaming at his screen with the rest of us in aytons passiveness.

I think the valley oop probably did more damage to his brand…. We all assumed we were getting this monster dunker but ended up with Mr. Passive aggressive.

I will say that watching Amare all those years damaged my own expectations of what Ayton should do. Amare had unbelievable hands and could catch everything cleanly and finish with contact. I took it for granted and when Ayton couldn't do the same regularly, it was disappointing.

[Split T]

Two very contrasting players whose biggest strengths were probably the others biggest weaknesses.

[JeremyG]

All of those awful non-dunks. Ewww.

[Superbone]

All of those awful non-dunks. Ewww.

NOW you're getting it.

[Superbone]

Feels like you can hear the disgust in Amar'e's voice.

100%. It’s almost like he was screaming at his screen with the rest of us in aytons passiveness.

I think the valley oop probably did more damage to his brand…. We all assumed we were getting this monster dunker but ended up with Mr. Passive aggressive.

I will say that watching Amare all those years damaged my own expectations of what Ayton should do. Amare had unbelievable hands and could catch everything cleanly and finish with contact. I took it for granted and when Ayton couldn't do the same regularly, it was disappointing.

Yup. Amare was the man!

Amar'e Stoudemire on Deandre Ayton: "I think Ayton probably wasn't as aggressive on the inside that the guys wanted him to be. When you 7 foot in the paint, you gotta dunk. You gotta dominate."

[SunsRIt]

I didn’t realize Amare went to the Shawn Marion school of interviewing. Knowwhatimsayin?

[JeremyG]

Nobody listened to me when I said that Ayton wouldn't even have to be the 4th option for the majority of games, with how injury prone our big 3 are. Now we are going to wish we had a 4th option to step in as a 3rd option or 2nd option.

One thing you guys are forgetting, though, is that likely for the majority of games this season, Ayton will be the #1, #2, or #3, depending on whether 1, 2, or 3 of our big 3 are injured at the same time. Given their history, it’s highly unlikely that all 3 will be playing at the same time for more than 20-40 games, which would be the only games that Ayton is the 4th option (or even fewer than that, if Ayton is injured for some of those games).

[Split T]

We have Eric Gordon for that now

[Cap]

I really think, overall, Nurk is a better fit for what we’re trying to do. Ayton wouldn’t fit with the current team.

Likely starting Beal/Book/JO/KD/Nurk with Eric/Gray/Yuta/Drew the first four off the bench. All nine of those guys can, at least reasonably well for their position, pass, catch, dribble, shoot, and generally make good decisions with and without the ball. We don’t have that one guy who will stop the ball, cause turnovers, reset from a scoring opportunity, or otherwise mess up possessions. When five of our top nine are on the floor, the ball will consistently move with purpose. You can probably add Goodwin and Metu to that mix without losing too much. You could not add DA.

[JeremyG]

We have Eric Gordon for that now

I've been a big defender of Gordon, but he's not a guy who can get you 25 or 30 anymore. (Maybe in a game or two if all of the big three are out.)

[AmareIsGod]

All of those awful non-dunks. Ewww.

Ayton was 2 for 3 on FTs that night. Double his normal FT output.

[JeremyG]

All of those awful non-dunks. Ewww.

Ayton was 2 for 3 on FTs that night. Double his normal FT output.

What do you think his normal was?

[AmareIsGod]

All of those awful non-dunks. Ewww.

Ayton was 2 for 3 on FTs that night. Double his normal FT output.

What do you think his normal was?

Last year was his most prolific at the FT line. 3.0 FTA per game.