All Things Ayton

[Kryptonic]

This is just.. Wow.

All while he’s looking ready for a cattle drive….

Confirmed…. He’s on a red dead redemption 2 kick.

[specialsauce]

6 points, 4 rebounds for Mr Max tonight.

Mr Max is here to punish you!!!

[Mori Chu]

I still can't believe we got 2 good starters in trade for that bum. Like, our team is *so much* better because of that trade.

[ShelC]

Cronin got a lot of love for how he handled the trade request and what he got back. A's across the board from the media but we know what DA is and isn't, Williams is again out for the year, Brogdon is probably trade bait, maybe the picks net out to something great down the line (will Cronin even be around to use them?). But the Blazers roster is a mess that needs to be shaken out and Billups doesn't seem to have a handle on how to coach the team or how he wants to develop Scoot, which should be the priority. They're in no-man's land with vets like Brogdon and Grant, a young iso scorer in Simons, and what should be a franchise PG in Scoot.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2023/10/1/2 ... miami-heat

[TOO]

He really is just a guy who plays ball for the money, there is no love of the game, no commitment to getting better, what a waste of god given ability. He's gonna go the way Andre Drummond and just be a bench big after this contract is over.

[iLLmatic]

This is just.. Wow.

All while he’s looking ready for a cattle drive….

Confirmed…. He’s on a red dead redemption 2 kick.

I’m sure they missed his 6 & 4.

[specialsauce]

This is certainly his one and only max deal

[JeremyG]

Cronin got a lot of love for how he handled the trade request and what he got back. A's across the board from the media but we know what DA is and isn't, Williams is again out for the year, Brogdon is probably trade bait, maybe the picks net out to something great down the line (will Cronin even be around to use them?). But the Blazers roster is a mess that needs to be shaken out and Billups doesn't seem to have a handle on how to coach the team or how he wants to develop Scoot, which should be the priority. They're in no-man's land with vets like Brogdon and Grant, a young iso scorer in Simons, and what should be a franchise PG in Scoot.

https://www.blazersedge.com/2023/10/1/2 ... miami-heat

They need to trade Grant and Brogdon and let Ayton put up 20 shots a game. You have to see what he can do. You can’t just trade for a max center and not even try using him.

I get the questioning of his effort at times, especially when his rebounds are low. I really do. But still, you have to get him involved and see what you can get out of him.

[Split T]

They will trade Grant, but Ayton probably needs Brogdon. He’s the only good pg right now on the roster.

I also think Ayton should remodel his game and become a 3pt shooter. It won’t make him a max guy, but nothing about his game right now fits with the modern nba and he’s not been good enough for teams to experiment with going back to the 90’s/00’s style wise with him.

Shoot 3s and try to at least be Vucevic…otherwise he is Drummond and will be a journeyman signing vet min deals after this max deal is finished.

[JeremyG]

He has been working on his 3-point shooting for years. So who is making the decision for him to not shoot them in games? Himself or the coaching staff? He’s taken zero this season, which is unprecedented even for him.

[ShelC]

He's not a 3pt shooter. His form is terrible the further he moves out. He's a midrange shooter, that's it.

[Split T]

He's not a 3pt shooter. His form is terrible the further he moves out. He's a midrange shooter, that's it.

Right now? Yes, that’s why I said he’d have to change his game. Brook Lopez shot 31 3s over the first 8 years of his career and then took 387 in year 9. I’d get Ayton in the gym and get him working on that 3-ball. If he’s not going to be aggressive near the rim(and we know that’s true), he needs to shoot 3s. Or he’s just a vet min journeyman backup 5.

[ShelC]

Lopez always had good form tho, bigs just weren't shooting 3s when he came into the league. Ayton's jumper flattens out into a push shot as he moves out. And it's very rare that a guy will re-invent his jumper this late in his career. If the form is there and all he needs his reps, that's different. But expecting Ayton to get into the gym and re-work his jumper to become a reliable 3pt shooter....good luck with that.

[JeremyG]

His three-point form did look better over the summer (more arc to it).

[Split T]

Lopez always had good form tho, bigs just weren't shooting 3s when he came into the league. Ayton's jumper flattens out into a push shot as he moves out. And it's very rare that a guy will re-invent his jumper this late in his career. If the form is there and all he needs his reps, that's different. But expecting Ayton to get into the gym and re-work his jumper to become a reliable 3pt shooter....good luck with that.

Fair, he may not have it, but I’m just saying what he needs to do if he wants to remain a relevant starting C. What he’s doing right now won’t cut it.

[JeremyG]

Moving this to the DA thread…

It’s gonna be pretty funny if Richards is our starting center in the playoffs and “Better Fit Nurk” gets benched.

How is he not the better fit at this point? Ayton has been MIA most of the season, even when he's on the court. Nurk has put up excellent numbers and has been a tremendous fit. You can't look at one or two games where he didn't quite have it. Ayton was basically 50/50 every single night for us.

I see no reason to translate what Ayton has done in Portland to what he would have done here. I think he would have been a great fit for Vogel’s team, as Vogel himself has said (even well after the trade).

Nurk’s rebounding has been better than expected, but we’ll have to see whether that continues. But for the most part, he doesn’t fit the way we need to play (fast pace offensively, defensive mobility/versatility, finishing at the rim for easy points) as well as Ayton would. He hasn’t even been playing in clutch time lately. I especially have my doubts about how he’ll fit in the playoffs.

[AmareIsGod]

Moving this to the DA thread…

It’s gonna be pretty funny if Richards is our starting center in the playoffs and “Better Fit Nurk” gets benched.

How is he not the better fit at this point? Ayton has been MIA most of the season, even when he's on the court. Nurk has put up excellent numbers and has been a tremendous fit. You can't look at one or two games where he didn't quite have it. Ayton was basically 50/50 every single night for us.

I see no reason to translate what Ayton has done in Portland to what he would have done here. I think he would have been a great fit for Vogel’s team, as Vogel himself has said (even well after the trade).

Nurk’s rebounding has been better than expected, but we’ll have to see whether that continues. But for the most part, he doesn’t fit the way we need to play (fast pace offensively, defensive mobility/versatility, finishing at the rim for easy points) as well as Ayton would. He hasn’t even been playing in clutch time lately. I especially have my doubts about how he’ll fit in the playoffs.

Yeah but he's such a good passer. I feel like he does a great job as a facilitator at the top of the key or 3 point line. You never really saw that with Ayton. I think that's being overlooked beyond better rebounding.

[Shabazz]

Other than his high-post passing, I think his physical brand of ball is actually a much better fit for this star-heavy team than Ayton’s soft, finesse contact-averse BS.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Ayton being "unlocked" by Vogel is some fantasy RPG bullshit.

[iLLmatic]

Ayton’s shot is too flat to be a consistent three point shooter.