Deandre Ayton Refuses To Talk About The Phoenix Suns
Deandre Ayton was the first pick in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Arizona and spent the first five seasons of his career with the Phoenix Suns.
This summer, the talented center was traded from the Suns to the Portland Trail Blazers in a three-team deal that also included Damian Lillard going to the Milwaukee Bucks.
On Thursday evening, Ayton and the Trail Blazers will play their second preseason game when they face off against the Suns at home in Oregon.
Ayton met with the media on Tuesday but refused to speak about his former team (video via Aaron J. Fentress).
Reporter: "Any thoughts about tomorrow night? Facing your old team."
Ayton: "There's no thoughts at all."
There was another question about the Suns, and Ayton once again declined to speak about the team that drafted him.
This past year, Ayton averaged a very productive 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per contest while shooting 58.9% from the field in 67 regular season games.
The Suns were the fourth seed in the Western Conference and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, but lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round in six games.
Ayton helped completely turn around the franchise, as they have made the playoffs for three straight seasons (and the 2021 NBA Finals).
As for the Trail Blazers, they are coming off a year where they were the 13th seed in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record.
They missed the NBA playoffs (and the play-in tournament) for the second straight season.
