Phx-Suns.Net

My problem at the time of the draft was not that nobody saw Ayton's flaws.

Luka was euroleague mvp playing for fucking Real Madrid. We had his national team coach. He was the main focus on that team when Dragic was still very good at basketball.

It's like buying a lot of flour to make pizzas and then deciding to make burgers instead.

Even if Ayton had consistent effort, it was clear that Luka was a generational player.

I remember a very clear conversation on here about not being able to teach heart and desire and that was the one big knock on Ayton.
I wanted Young before I’d heard about Luca and then really felt he would be a massive player, but his perceived weakness was his lack of athleticism.
This seemed to be what the media focused on pre draft in regards to Luca but that has shown to be such a deceptive metric when talking about players with amazing skills.
Ayton was then talked about having the potential to be that generational big and people not wanting to miss out on the next big big.

Such a shame for me as those consistent red flags from college of desire and heart and having games off is a repeated metric that does translate to the pros.
And the dismissing of top level euro league talent because it is ‘not the NBA’ is arrogance personified.

Still way more annoyed at the Halliburton mess up as there was never a real alternative to that draft! Not even a hint of a potential alternative.

I think it was fair to question the ceiling of Luka at the time. I don’t think anyone questioned whether he’d be good, but there were some concerns with Luka. He wasn’t a great athlete and he was a fairly inefficient shooter at the time. One very common comparison at the time was Gordon Hayward…now in retrospect(and at the time tbh) that sold him very short from a playmaking standpoint, but I think the people who wanted Ayton probably saw Luka as an all-star level, playmaking forward who could do a bit of everything on offense but would struggle to defend. They also surmised that he might already be near his ceiling.

They were wrong in a lot of things…the thing I remember being most surprised about was his size and strength for a primary ball handler. I thought he was a Hayward sized 6’7 215 like player. His size and the way he uses his body to get to his shots made his lack of elite athleticism irrelevant. There was a little bully ball Kawhi to his game. That plus the elite court vision and improved shooting has turned him into what he is now.

I'm no scout(obviously), but I had Ayton, Luka, and JJJ all pretty even at the top of my board. I wasn't really aware of the motor issues with Ayton…and if I was I just brushed them off. The Suns were clearly picking Ayton, so I got on board quick and agreed that it made more sense to pair Booker with a big. The highlights I saw of Ayton were misleading. I thought he was an aggressive rim attacker. I did not see the soft mid range shooter coming. I guess that's what I get for just watching highlights.

I'll say this, Kel'el Ware kinda sounds a bit like DA and if you just watch his highlights you'll get sucked in. That being said, drafting Ayton at 22 would probably be ok.

With the Bahamas just one win away from clinching their first ever Olympics berth, needing a victory over Spain in Spain, will Deandre Ayton be able to rise to the occasion tomorrow?

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:15 pm

With the Bahamas just one win away from clinching their first ever Olympics berth, needing a victory over Spain in Spain, will Deandre Ayton be able to rise to the occasion tomorrow?

I'm betting no.... He'll end up with a bruised mangina and will have to sit out

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:15 pm

With the Bahamas just one win away from clinching their first ever Olympics berth, needing a victory over Spain in Spain, will Deandre Ayton be able to rise to the occasion tomorrow?

Couldn't care less, America FTW

DOMINAYTON

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:15 pm

With the Bahamas just one win away from clinching their first ever Olympics berth, needing a victory over Spain in Spain, will Deandre Ayton be able to rise to the occasion tomorrow?

It appears the answer was, “No.”

Pick him up for cheap someday.

I’ll take him back for nurk and a couple second rounders.

Ayton was still the best C the Suns have ever had, he may not ever reach his potential but the bagging is old and tiring.
Not drafting Doncic was a clear miss, but he never even tried out for the Suns so I dont know that I would have been happy had they drafted him after all the BS we went through with Bogdanovic and then the misses on all the Lens, Lamps, Tsakalids, Cabarkapas and other Euros we never saw fully blossom

He was one of our greatest….. for sure. When I post here I’m just doing it to joke around, he’d obviously fetch more than that in a trade.

He was good, until he wasn’t invested in the team anymore…those checked out games were rough and they were happening way too frequently. 2021 playoffs Ayton was awesome.

Q: Would you guys trade Ayton straight up for Nurkic right now? Keep their salaries as-is; no picks, no other players. Such a trade doesn't work under the CBA, of course, so this is purely a hypothetical. We'd inherit DA's entire $34m salary which would increase our tax/apron penalty even further. Would you rather have him here than Nurkic, given the other players on our roster for the coming season? I think I would, since I think DA's defense would be more useful to us next year than Nurk's scoring and passing, but I can see argument for the other side.

In a heartbeat.... You'd think going from playing for a playoff contender to a bottom feeder would humble you some and make you appreciate the previous situation. I'd bet he'd come back with a lot of fire... for the first 10 games lol.

Do you think that wins and losses meant all that much to Ayton?

Ayton is definitely better than Nurk. If there’s not a broken relationship between him and Book, then yes I’d absolutely take him.

In2ition wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 7:25 am

Do you think that wins and losses meant all that much to Ayton?

Probably not... I thought it was always about getting that max deal.

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2024 7:11 am

Q: Would you guys trade Ayton straight up for Nurkic right now? Keep their salaries as-is; no picks, no other players. Such a trade doesn't work under the CBA, of course, so this is purely a hypothetical. We'd inherit DA's entire $34m salary which would increase our tax/apron penalty even further. Would you rather have him here than Nurkic, given the other players on our roster for the coming season? I think I would, since I think DA's defense would be more useful to us next year than Nurk's scoring and passing, but I can see argument for the other side.

If money doesn't matter and to hell with salary cap restrictions then sure, but there's a hell of a lot of other players I'd rather have for $34M than that limp noodle