Former Blazers Standout Labeled One of NBA's Most Overrated Players

Dec 19, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (1) celebrates with center Deandre Ayton (2) after scoring the game winning shot against the Denver Nuggets at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers have been saddled with plenty of overcompensated veterans of late, as team general manager Joe Cronin has essentially been punting on constructing a true win-now roster for years.

Still, one egregious overpay towers above the rest, both in terms of perceived on-court value and reputation.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report opines that Deandre Ayton, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, numbers among the most overrated players of the past half-decade. Specifically, Favale considers the 7-footer out of Arizona to be the third-most overrated such contributor.

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"Outsized expectations pre-date Deandre Ayton getting the Los Angeles Lakers exceptionalism boost," Favale notes. "There is a tendency to start off nearly every bit of analysis with some variant of 'If he can recapture the defense and motor that helped the Phoenix Suns finish two wins shy of a championship…' as if the 2021 NBA Finals wasn’t four years in the rear-view mirror."

Ayton seemed to have truly solidified himself as an above-averaged starting caliber center during the Suns' run to the Finals that year. He was a two-way menace, and although he didn't have modern 3-point shooting range, he was a solid face-up player and had the strength and physicality to both get to his spots in the paint as a scorer and to defend anyone not named Giannis Antetokounmpo on the other end.

Stunningly, that was essentially Ayton's peak. He has never looked like the same player in the intervening seasons. After a crushing playoff run with Phoenix in 2022 (they were smoked by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round), the bloom was off the rose. Ayton was eventually dealt to the Trail Blazers in the summer of 2023.

Beyond rumored chemistry issues behind the scenes on both the Suns and the Trail Blazers, Favale believes Ayton deserves merit on this list purely from a basketball perspective.

"The defensive engagement is prone to mountainous peaks yet even starker valleys. Ditto for his presence on the glass. His teams have defended better with him on the floor exactly once since 2020-21, and they’ve fared better with him on the defensive glass just twice," Favale writes.

That's a stunning indictment of Ayton's inefficacy as a defender, considering the 27-year-old has never averaged less than double-digit rebounds during a seven-season pro career.

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While Ayton has a solid mid-range game, as Favale concedes, his takes from the free throw line and at the rim have been bizarrely minimal for a player with his minutes and role.

"His mid-range touch is decidedly above average but not nearly enough to offset abnormally low attempts at the hoop and charity stripe," Favale writes. "Among all bigs over the past five years, he has finished no higher than the 44th percentile of rim volume and no higher than the 32nd percentile in the rate at which he draws shooting fouls."

Favale observes that Portland's decision to buy out the rest of Ayton's $35.6 million expiring contract for the 2025-26 season rather than continue trying to trade him speaks to how much his value across the league must have depreciated. Ayton wound up signing a two-year deal with the Lakers worth far less.

For more news and notes on the Portland Trail Blazers, visitPortland Trail Blazers on SI.