Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has been hearing all the noise this offseason and has committed himself to proving all of his doubters wrong. To that end, the 25-year-old has committed to the Bahamian National Team in order to represent his home country at the 2023 FIBA Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
Suns teammate Eric Gordon, Indiana Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield, and Charlotte Hornets center Kai Jones will join Ayton on the Bahamas men's national basketball team, per Andscape insider Marc J. Spears.
While Ayton, Hield, and Jones were all born in the Bahamas, Gordon was born in Indiana. However, his mother (Denise) is a native of Nassau, like Ayton and Jones.
Though Jones is likely to play more of a bench role with Ayton joining the team, between he, Ayton, Hield, and Gordon, the Bahamas could have one of the better teams in the Pre-Qualifying Tournament.
It's unclear if 35-year-old forward Mychel Thompson, the older brother of Golden State Warriors star wing Klay Thompson, will play for the Bahamian national team in the upcoming tournament. However, he did play for the Bahamas in 2020 and 2021 alongside Hield and Jones, as they competed in the AmeriCup Qualifiers and the Americas World Cup Qualifiers.
Thompson notched 11.4 points and 1.4 steals per game in the 2021 Americas World Cup Qualifiers. Jones, in his FIBA debut, averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. Hield, making his FIBA tournament appearance, averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game while shooting 47.4 percent from 3.
Gordon's last and only time competing in a FIBA tournament in 2010, when he averaged 8.6 points per game in the FIBA World Cup for Team USA.
Ayton, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game for the Suns last season.
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