Despite his defensive prowess, a byproduct of his extreme attention to detail and picturesque technique, Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has been heavily criticized throughout his short career.

Perhaps being a first overall pick comes with superstar-sized expectations. He clearly feels the pressure, as evidenced by him recently revealing that his focus this offseason has been changing the narrative around him.

However, over the course the last five years, Ayton really has become one of the better big men in the league.

Suns general manager James Jones spoke to The Republic’s Duane Ranking about the noise surrounding Ayton and his perception of the big man’s comments. The former NBA sharpshooter didn’t hesitate to shoot down the idea that Ayton isn’t producing at a high enough level.

“He’s just aware, self-aware,” Jones says. “I think a lot of times, our guys pay too much attention to social media and the noise I would say, but they can’t avoid it because they're the ones people talk about.”

“I think what gets lost is his desire to be great and how much winning matters to him. I’ll say it again, he’s not even 25 years old (turns 25 Tuesday) and he’s six years into his NBA career. He’s an 18 (points per game) and 10 (rebounds per game) player and if you were to ask the game’s greatest players how easy it is to do that, they’ll tell you it’s extremely difficult, but even that bar isn’t high enough for him and others.”

“…The impact that he’s had on this team over the last three or four years is undeniable,” James continues. “…If he can take it to a level that I know he wants to, he makes us special and I think that’s the driver for him.”