With the way Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has developed in his first three years in the league, there were questions whether the Phoenix Suns should have taken him first overall in the 2018 NBA Draft instead of Deandre Ayton.
Well, the short answer is no.
Even though it would have been epic to see Doncic play with Devin Booker and see how they would mess, the Suns needed a center. For his part, Ayton has proven that he is exactly the big man Phoenix needs.
In fact, in their first round series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Ayton showed the Suns they didn't make a mistake signing him by dominating the painted area and contributing offensively behind Booker and Chris Paul. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the 22-year-old center even recorded the highest field goal percentage in a playoff series inn the shot-clock era.
In their 4-2 series victory against the Lakers, Ayton shot 43-of-54 from the field, which accounts for a 79.6 percent shooting rate.
Deandre Ayton shot 79.6% (43-54) in the 1st round against the Lakers.
That is the highest FG pct in a playoff series in the shot-clock era (min. 50 FGA). pic.twitter.com/V2rq7HoV2T
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 4, 2021
Now that is what we call efficiency!
Deandre Ayton have been largely overlooked from the 2018 Draft Class because he isn't considered the top player on his Suns team, unlike Luka Doncic for the Mavs and Trae Young for the Atlanta Hawks. However, he doesn't really need to be since he has Booker and Paul as teammates.
A Doncic-Booker pairing would have been lethal, but there is no doubt Ayton's partnership with Book is just as dangerous.
Follow Us
Subscribe