Deandre Ayton Ripped by Bleacher Report
The Phoenix Suns are off to a 8-4 start to the season for a few reasons.
The team has seen Devin Booker take full control of the offense, as his ability to score at any time has helped push Phoenix through some close games.
Chris Paul's vision and defense has more than made up for his lack of points thus far, and the Suns have seen typical tremendous defense from Mikal Bridges with the occasional ability to pace the team in scoring.
Since having his offer from the Indiana Pacers matched, Suns center Deandre Ayton hasn't exactly lived up to expectations.
So much to the point where Bleacher Report's Dan Favale gave him one of the worst grades in his article going through each team's top young star.
Here's what he offered:
DeAndre Ayton Receives D+ Grade for Performance From Bleacher Report
Age: 24
Grade: D+
"Scoring regression from Chris Paul, injuries and a shallower rotation at the top all seem like ingredients for a Deandre Ayton role expansion. They haven't been," said Favale.
"This is to some extent beyond Ayton's control. The Phoenix Suns aren't attempting to use him much differently in response to availability shakeups. A smaller percentage of his offensive possessions are coming as post-ups (18 percent) compared to last season (21.9 percent), and only a slightly larger share of his buckets are going unassisted (21.1 percent, up from 18.8).
"To say Ayton is blameless, though, would be a gross understatement. Foul trouble has inherently limited his minutes—his 4.8 personals per 36 minutes are by far a career high—and his propensity for playing without force or fading entirely into the background persists.
"Things he's historically done well have even started spiraling in the wrong direction. Last year, he averaged 1.25 points per possessions as the roll man (72nd percentile) while turning the ball over just 7.5 percent of the time. This season, he's averaging 0.95 points point per possession (21st percentile), with a turnover rate of 16.2. (The latter could be skewed by a climb in moving screen calls, but that's not exactly comforting.)
"Ayton is coming off a year in which he hit 60-plus percent of his hook shots. He is currently 6-of-15 (40 percent) on those same looks this season. His defensive body language has vacillated. He looks stiff and/or drowsy on a ton of possessions and has churned out some half-assed contests around the basket. Opponents are shooting 64.4 percent against him at the rim, a decidedly lackluster mark among everyone who challenges as many looks—and a nuclear increase over the 55.5 percent he allowed last season.
"Take this demerit as a backhanded compliment if you find yourself enraged. Ayton hasn't been bad, but he set lofty standards for himself over the past two years. He is supposed to be a top-end center ascending—a legitimate star.
"Maybe one of these games he'll start playing like it."
To be extremely fair, all the aforementioned points from Favale are spot on, and many within Phoenix's realm of fans would agree.
Only Golden State's Jordan Poole (D) had a lower grade.
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