LAS VEGAS — His first summer league game didn’t come close to matching the excitement that preceded it, and all Deandre Ayton could think about was how the relatively quiet debut would affect his NBA2K rating.

“Ronnie!” Ayton shouted last Saturday in reference to Ronnie Singh, a gaming employee and social-media presence for 2K Sports who goes by the name “Ronnie 2K.” “Please don’t rate me off that game! Rate me off college!”

Walking through the bowels of the Thomas & Mack Center to partake in a trading-card signing with Panini America and a graphic-imaging photo shoot for another gaming system, EA Sports, Ayton blurted out his frustration over a performance that would’ve been completely forgettable if he hadn’t announced his arrival as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft with an emphatic alley-oop dunk. Ayton spent most of the game flustered and confused as he dealt with double-teams and aggressive ball-denials, and his teammates on the Phoenix Suns summer-league squad appeared incapable of working the ball inside to him.

“Let me tell you something, man. College is totally different. In college, you can’t touch nobody. I mean, it’s dudes trying to bury his chest in my soul [in the NBA],” Ayton joked after scoring just 10 points in a Suns win over the Dallas Mavericks. “I thought it was going to be different in the league. That’s crazy.”

Deandre Ayton is guarded by the Magic’s Jonathan Isaac on Monday in Las Vegas. (Getty Images) More

Ayton is the most physically imposing specimen to enter the league since Joel Embiid. With a chiseled frame, broad shoulders and a nasty mean streak, Ayton can play bully ball with the best of them. But he also possesses a soft touch on his jump shot, nimble footwork and the uncommon versatility of the previous two big men to go first overall in Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns. Throw in some comedic timing, an infectious charm and a fearless embrace of outsized expectations, and it’s easy to understand why the Suns are enthused about Ayton’s star potential. The native of the Bahamas has big plans for the NBA that match his towering size.

“I’m trying to be Rookie of the Year and the first rookie [since Blake Griffin] to be an All-Star,” Ayton told Yahoo Sports. “Just putting that pressure on me so I can go hard everyday. I won’t necessarily say it’s pressure. I’ll just say it’s one of my goals or one of the achievements I hope to accomplish. It’s no pressure at all, it’s just, you’ve got to be in the gym, you’ve got to work, because if you don’t, it’s going to be exposed.”

‘Butterflies is real, y’all’

Ayton showed up to the EA Sports booth first and noticed a stack of video games on the table. When he was told that the games were a gift for participating, Ayton studied the table, grabbed three and handed them to a Suns staffer to place in his oversized Gucci backpack. “Good thing I got a haircut,” Ayton said as he waited to be digitally immortalized for the NBA Live video game.

The multi-camera machine that was meant to capture Ayton’s face, however, was experiencing some technical difficulties that would postpone the shoot for another day. So, Ayton made his way over to the Panini signing in an adjacent cubicle beneath the arena stands. Ayton has to slide a dozen Arizona jerseys that will later be cut up and used in a “game worn” card set. As he slides the jerseys on and off in rapid-fire fashion, Ayton tells the Panini staffers, “I’m not going to lie to you, this is a little bit of a shoulder workout. I’m like Karate Kid — wax on, wax off.”

Unable to let a silent moment drag on for long, Ayton starts explaining to anyone willing to listen why his first summer league game was absent the force with which he usually plays. “Butterflies is real, y’all,” Ayton said, adding that he hadn’t felt that nervous for a game since the last time he was in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena, with its 20,000-seat capacity. On that night, Ayton missed 10 of 14 shots and scored just 10 points in Arizona’s win. “I played like garbage. I still had a double-double in my sleep. But I was sleeping that game. I don’t know why. I just was, like, frightened. The environment is crazy. That thing was packed. I’m looking around, staring at the crowd in the middle of the game. I was starstruck a little bit.”

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