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Deandre Ayton returned to the desert for the first time as an opponent on Tuesday as the Portland Trail Blazers were blown out by the Phoenix Suns. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NBA draft was traded from Phoenix to Portland in late September as part of the three-team deal that landed Damian Lillard with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ayton finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block over 31 minutes in Portland's 120-107 loss, shooting 9-of-14 from the field. While those are typically solid, efficient numbers, Suns fans likely weren't too disappointed watching Ayton man the paint on both ends for the Blazers. He registered a game-worst -33 plus-minus and failed to get to the free throw line while being outplayed by Phoenix counterpart Jusuf Nurkic, who the Suns effectively chose over Ayton upon moving him to Rip City.
After the game, Ayton was asked his thoughts on the Footprint Center crowd's response—which definitely included some boos amid cheers—to a tribute video Phoenix played on the jumbotron before tipoff.
“They booed me? You think so?” Ayton said, per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. “It didn't sound like a boo to me. I seen my tribute video and I was happy. It sounded like I heard cheers, not boos.”
You be the judge.
Suns play a tribute video for Deandre Ayton before the game. Mostly cheers, some boos from the fans here early pic.twitter.com/uOoCTOpFKT
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) November 22, 2023
Deandre Ayton's history with Suns, Devin Booker
Whether more Suns fans booed or cheered Ayton is perhaps debatable. What's abundantly clear is the shade Devin Booker threw at his old teammate in the postgame locker room.
“It's fun,” Booker said when asked what it was like to compete against Ayton. “It's I think our first time in the regular season. I'm happy we came out with the win. He played extra hard tonight; I seen that. My challenge for him is to play like that every night.
Devin Booker on facing Deandre Ayton: “It’s fun….He played extra hard tonight. I seen that, and my challenge for him is to play like that every night.” pic.twitter.com/hLVeSPV3hq
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) November 22, 2023
It became widespread common knowledge toward the end of Ayton's tenure in Phoenix that Booker and Kevin Durant had grown tired of playing with him. Their palpable frustration at his lack of physicality and fleeting overall engagement was obvious throughout the Suns' 2022 playoff run, which ended with a second-round loss to Nikola Jokic and the eventual-champion Denver Nuggets.
Ayton may have found a new home in Portland, at least for the time being. But he's been largely the same immensely talented yet ultimately underwhelming player with the Blazers that he was for most of his time with the Suns, no surprise given the casual on-court demeanor that's come to define his game since entering the league half decade ago as a potential franchise savior.
Expect similarly frothy interactions and comments between Ayton, his former teammates and fans every time he goes back to Phoenix for the foreseeable future.
