I don’t hate much on Ayton. I was excited to get him and think he can be a force when used correctly. He seems allergic to whistles though.
Ayton: <plays in elite company statistically in his last 12 games.> NBA Reddit: ‘but his free throw attempts tho’
he's certainly been playing 'better' than the standards he set earlier in the season in the 15 games since he came back from injury he's averaged 14.7 points and 9 rebounds. If you want to cherry-pick the last 12 games when his stats took a jump he's averaged 16.4 points and 9.8 rebounds. Those are decent numbers but hardly elite. They are Nurkic-level numbers with higher scoring and lower rebounds; but again, only a 12 game samples size
This is a tiny sample size. Last 12 games, players averaging over 10.6r and shooting over 50% from the field. then again, this sample started with 3 games, then it was 5, now he’s put together a nice stretch. I’m sure there will be another dip—it does seem like the coaching staff and his teammates are putting him in the right spots more often and it’s leading to increased effort on both ends of the floor. This is about as good as any meat/potato counting numbers stretch nurk had with the team (pre-injury 18-19 and bubble nurk). Nurk was better defensively and on pnr in those stretches, obviously.
like I said, they are good numbers. I was quibbling about labeling them elite...no worries in the 11 game sample, he has averaged about 14 FGA. The rest of the season he averaged around 11. So 3 more FGA/game. He averages 1.21 points/shot so that has bumped his point average by over 3.6 points. That's pretty significant and people dismissing the importance of FT's need to consider: Ayton has a season average FG% of 56.4%; Nurkic is averaging 51.6% on FGA's. So, Ayton is better, right? But Ayton is 'only' averaging 1.21 points/shot while Nurkic is averaging 1.34 points/shot. That represents the value of FT's as Ayton's FT rate is .107 and Nurkic's rate is .382....and in that 11 game sample, as well as Ayton has been shooting, his points/shot mark of 1.31 is still lower than Nurkic's season average
Should also be pointed out that Nurk also has the luxury of being the #4 or #5 biggest worry of the opposing defense, with multiple teammates who demand double teams. His FG% and points/shot should be significantly higher for that reason alone.
I don't really but that logic because I don't see teams flexing any of their defensive focus toward Ayton this year. Teams pay attention to Ant and Grant; and to Brogdon. They rarely double of trap Ayton, even when he's in the paint. Now, Ayton's career points/shot is better than Nurkic, so what I would buy is that players on crappy teams have difficulty maintaining efficiency
You don't think the quality of shots would change playing next to Durant and Booker vs Ant and Grant? More importantly, when deciding who to cover and rotate to, Phoenix's opponents have to decide between leaving Nurk, Beal, Grayson Allen, and Eric Gordon. Portland's opponents are having to decide between leaving Ayton, Camara, Thybulle, and Walker. Big difference. I watch a decent amount of Phoenix games, and the number of times Nurk catches the ball with nobody near him is significantly higher than Ayton. So we're not comparing Ayton or Nurk being doubled, we're talking about one guy being played straight up and another just being wide open.
Respectfully, not doing that at all. Players who get to the line are the best in the league and I need more of that from Ayton. My original comment is around the quibbly national media negging Ayton is going to get for the rest of his career because of his draft position and his Phoenix exit, even if he’s playing well. I’ve made this point before but I could not care less about Ayton’s draft position or contract at this point—I care about him being better than a broken Nassir Little and a Nurkic who doesn’t make sense for Portland’s timeline anymore. there was always going to be a meaty contract coming back for dame—that’s how the CBA works.
Hassan Whiteside on a max deal That’s Ayton. Big numbers, minimal impact I was hoping a change of scenery/system would help La’Sigh
If anyone has a problem with this dude putting up around 18 and 19 with a block and a steal per game while shooting 63% from the field and rarely turning the ball over then you need to check your expectations. This is probably the only guy we have that's both on the roster and healthy right now that I would be really excited to see in our starting lineup in our hopefully bright future.
