Rookie Cards Vol. 1: Deandre Ayton, Trae Young, Josh Okogie

The Godfather is a 98 on Rotten Tomatoes, which means that at least two critics saw the movie and just didn’t think it was any good. Clearly there is just nothing in this world that everyone can agree on, so even though most experts agreed on Deandre Ayton going No. 1 overall or immediately following, there still had to be a small (and vocal) contingent of people who were adamant that he’d be a bust and a waste of a lottery pick.

“He’s a one-dimensional, back-to-the-basket, traditional center… Doesn’t fit in the modern NBA… Won’t be able to play on the perimeter.” Phrases like ‘small ball’, ‘tempo’, ‘pace and space’ and ‘low ceiling’ were repeated on a loop for two months leading up to the draft.

It turns out that being 7-foot-1, 240 pounds with a 43.5 inch vertical actually does fit into the NBA in 2018.

Through the first 10 games of his rookie season, Ayton has averaged a double-double, leads all rookies in rebounding and shooting percentage and ranks near the top in almost every other offensive category. He’s also averaging 3.4 assists a game, which is more than double what he put up in college last season.

The ironic part about how successful he’s been so far vs. all the arguments against him — is that he’s played much more of a traditional center role so far with the Suns than he ever did in college. Arizona had two 7-footers in their starting five and Ayton, being the more athletic of the two, spent plenty of time playing away from the basket, guarding the power forward spot and contesting jump shots.

Over the course of the season, he averaged about one 3-point shot a game at Arizona and shot a respectable 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. He hasn’t attempted a single shot from beyond the 3-point line in the NBA though and in fact, 54 percent of his shot attempts have been inside of five feet. 86.4 percent of the total shots he’s taken have come off of one dribble or less meaning just about everything he’s putting up is coming off of lobs, dump-offs, quick entry passes, offensive rebounds, etc.

So it might still be unclear whether or not he can be an effective player from the perimeter, spread the floor, etc. But he’s definitely shown he can play effectively and impact the offense in the paint.

As capable as he’s looked so far scoring and rebounding, Ayton has struggled on the defensive end of the court. Defending in the post or even one on one away from the basket, he’s been more than adequate. The hole in his game, as it was in college, is team defense — sliding to protect the rim, handling switches, anticipating his responsibility and where he should be on the floor, etc. Even at 7-foot-1 with that 43.5-inch vertical, Ayton wasn’t a great rim protector at Arizona and hasn’t been one in the NBA so far either.

The Suns are 21st in points allowed so far this season and teams aren’t shooting particularly well from outside against them. They are 28th in opponent shooting percentage though. Obviously, the Suns haven’t been anything close to a good defensive team lately and Ayton isn’t going to come in and fix that as a rookie but he’s going to have to develop that part of his game if the Suns are going to be competitive anytime in the next five years.

Some defensive instincts can’t really be taught or developed over time but understanding individual responsibilities, opposing teams’ ball movement and tendencies can be improved with time, effort and a lot of film. Ayton won’t ever be an elite defender but with his size and athleticism, there’s no reason he can’t be at least serviceable.

Best Game Stat Lines:

• 10/27 @ MEM — 12-for-13 shooting, 24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists
• 11/2 vs. TOR — 7-for-10 shooting, 17 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks