'Joyful' Deandre Ayton offers personality, 'monster' skills for Suns at No. 1

Scott Bordow | The Republic | azcentral.com

Deandre Ayton walked onto the Arizona Wildcats’ charter flight and immediately was greeted by boosters and fans.

“Hey, Deandre, have a good weekend,” a booster said.

Ayton looked at him quizzically.

“I don’t know who you are talking about, this Deandre,” he said with a Spanish lilt. “I’m Alejandro.”

Wait. You didn’t know Alejandro was Ayton’s alter ego? Well, then you should probably meet Josh, too.

“We’ll be sitting on a plane and if things are quiet he’ll start talking in his Josh voice,” said Jeff Dean, Arizona basketball public address announcer. “Josh is a middle-aged yuppie White guy who talks about fun family vacations they went on in the 1980s.”

Deandre Ayton isn’t just the presumptive No. 1 pick in the June 21 draft, the player Phoenix hopes will lead its franchise out of the dark ages. He’s a 19-year-old kid who doesn’t know why everybody has to be so serious all the time.

“He’s just a joyful person,” former UA teammate Rawle Alkins said. “He’s the type of person when he sees a vibe that’s down or sad he’ll try to pick it up.”

To do that, sometimes Josh or Alejandro make an appearance.

Shot Clock: Deandre Ayton to Suns at No. 1 in NBA draft a done deal? Jay Dieffenbach and Scott Bordow discuss the Phoenix Suns and the NBA draft.

“When I was younger I watched Spiderman and they had the Green Goblin and before the Green Goblin died he told Spiderman that it wasn’t him, it was the Green Goblin that was killing all those people,” Ayton said. “I thought, ‘Hmm, I should try to change my personality sometimes when it comes to interviews.’ ”

Ayton then breaks into Alejandro’s voice – Alejandro is from Venezuela, by the way – before seamlessly affecting Josh’s articulate language.

“I wouldn’t say he has split personalities,” Wildcats guard Allonzo Trier said. “But there’s layers to Deandre depending on how well you get to know him.”

Deandre Ayton – basketball player

Let’s get the basics out of the way. Ayton is 7-feet-1, 260 pounds, and in his one season at Arizona, averaged 20.1 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.

Now, the superlatives.

ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla compared Ayton with Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. UA coach Sean Miller doesn’t understand why there’s a debate about the No. 1 pick, saying: “I look at the NBA as trying to figure out who they’re going to pick from No. 2 to 60. I think the No. 1 pick’s in. ... There’s nobody like Deandre. Nobody.”

Colorado coach Tad Boyle told NBA.com: “He’s a monster. I played (at Kansas) in the ’80s, and he’s the best player since Hakeem Olajuwon. He’s that kind of talent.”

Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar, an assistant at UA last season, told azcentral sports that Ayton is a “can’t-miss” prospect.

“I hate to say it, but the sky is the limit,” Romar said. “I’ve not seen anyone as well-rounded at that size. Maybe the closest is Kevin Garnett. There were a couple of times he was pressed and he brought the ball up in transition and made jaw-dropping plays and I thought of Garnett.”

Arizona guard Allonzo Trier comments on his former teammate Deandre Ayton Arizona guard Allonzo Trier at the Phoenix Suns pre-draft workout on June 1, 2018 at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.

That said, as the NBA has transitioned to a pace-and-space league featuring position-less lineups – look at Golden State and Cleveland in the NBA Finals – the value of a dominant center has come into question, which is why some believe the Suns should bypass Ayton for 19-year-old Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, who recently became the youngest MVP in EuroLeague history.

“I love Ayton and they have a massive hole up front but passers are at a premium,” ESPN analyst Amin Elhassan said.

Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough, however, believes there’s still a premium on big men who have the athleticism to play in today’s NBA.

“People look at Golden State and say that but if you look at Anthony Davis and the impact he had with New Orleans, Joel Embiid and what he’s done for the Philadelphia 76ers, Clint Capela and the role he’s playing for Houston ... the special ones are valuable,” McDonough said. “The unique freaks, which Ayton and (Mohamed) Bamba and (Marvin) Bagley and some of these guys are, there aren’t too many guys in the world 6-10 to 7-1 with that kind of skill, athleticism and coordination.

“I get generally that’s the trend but I think there are a few exceptions and I think some of the guys in the draft are going to be those freak players.”

Ayton’s offense is ready-made for the NBA. Modern centers need to be able to space the floor, and Ayton, in addition to being able to score inside, shot 34 percent from 3-point range at UA and 50.9 percent on mid-range jumpers. McDonough described Ayton's workout with the Suns, which featured a lot of shooting off pick-and-rolls and from beyond 3-point range, as “phenomenal.”

“He doesn’t have Hakeem’s shimmy moves, but facing the basket, he’s certainly better than Hakeem was at the same stage of his career,” Boyle said. “This kid’s got good footwork, agility, the ability to run the floor, explosiveness, intelligence and skill. He’s special.”

Miller believes Ayton will be a prolific scorer in the NBA because he won’t be facing the junk defenses he saw from UA’s opponents. Miller estimated Ayton played against a zone 70 percent of the time and double-teams the other 30 percent.

Suns' Ryan McDonough raves about Deandre Ayton after workout GM Ryan McDonough answers questions about Deandre Ayton after Ayton's workout with the Suns.

“In the NBA … they’re going to play with a court that’s more spread out, with no zone,” Miller said. “He’s going to be a monster.”

It's Ayton’s work on the other end of the court that has been criticized. Despite his size, he averaged just 1.9 blocks per game at UA, leading some scouts to believe he won’t be an accomplished rim protector.

“Probably the only thing he doesn’t do at a high rate is block shots,” Romar said.

Ayton’s defense has come under even greater scrutiny. Jonathan Givony, who founded draftexpress.com and now covers the draft for ESPN, has Ayton going No. 1 in his mock draft but wrote, “Phoenix, the worst defensive team in the NBA, will be right to question Ayton's impact on that end of the floor.”

Miller and Romar believe those concerns are unjustified. They point to the fact that with Dusan Ristic playing center for UA, Ayton had to guard smaller players on the perimeter, something he won’t have to do as often in the NBA They also are quick to remind everyone that Ayton is 19 years old, and most 19-year-old players entering the NBA are deficient on the defensive end.

“Anybody that criticizes his defense doesn’t know the game,” Miller said.

“Here’s the thing,” Romar added. “Because he’s so talented people judge him like the way they would judge somebody 22 years old. They judge him as if he’s been in college three or four years. I’ve been involved in college basketball for 25 years and only two players have been ready defensively from Day 1.

“Freshmen just aren’t very good defensively. I think he played defense at times like a freshman does but for whatever reason people don’t want to say he’s a freshman because he’s done so many things not like a freshman.”

Romar said Ayton can become a “phenomenal” defender in part because he has the size to defend big men and the athleticism to switch onto guards and stay in front of them. He also saw considerable growth in Ayton’s one season at Arizona, a testament, he said, to Ayton being “coachable” and having a “high basketball IQ.”

“Deandre didn’t know how to play defense when he first came here,” Romar said, “but throughout the course of the year he learned how to play team defense, how to rotate, position defense. He learned a lot which allowed him to be a much better defender than he was in the beginning.”

Like Miller, Romar thinks Ayton should be the No. 1 pick in the draft.

“I don’t know if there’s anything he can’t do on the basketball floor,” Romar said. “I don’t think there’s anyone in the draft like him.”

Fun and games

Romar laughs when asked about Ayton’s personality.

“Oh my goodness,” he said. “He’s a comedian. When he’s away from the court, just hanging around, oh my goodness, he’ll have you laughing.”

But that desire to have a good time, Romar said, shouldn’t be misconstrued as Ayton not taking his craft seriously. It’s almost as if Ayton has, well, split personalities. Romar described his on-court persona as “fiery,” “emotional” and “so competitive.”

Deandre Ayton: 'I think I deserve to be the No. 1 pick' in 2018 NBA draft Deandre Ayton talks with the media after his workout with the. Phoenix Suns.

When asked why he should be the No. 1 pick in the draft, Ayton said, “Because I’m the best competitor in the draft. … I don’t think there’s anybody like me. I play my heart out on both ends of the floor and I give it my all.”

Interestingly, Ayton hasn’t patterned his game after a current big man such as Embiid or Davis. Instead, it’s Garnett whom he tries to emulate.

“His intensity on both ends of the floor, how he changes the game,” Ayton said. “… The best part of my game is being a competitor. I just want to win.”

Ayton is certain the Suns will draft him – “I know I’m going No. 1” – and he’s eager to join Devin Booker in a pairing he calls “Shaq and Kobe 2.0.”

“We can start a legacy in Phoenix,” he said.

Ayton and Booker. Josh and Alejandro.

Could be fun.

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