After the Phoenix Suns lost to the Orlando Magic on Friday night, rookie center Deandre Ayton spoke about the prospects of him adding a 3-point shot to his game at the professional level.
After taking 35 3-point attempts and converting 34.3 percent of it at the University of Arizona last year, Deandre Ayton has only attempted two long-range efforts — missing both — in 22 games in the NBA. However, despite the potential the 20-year-old has shown as a jump shooter, he insists that he's not interested in burying treys so much as taking shots in rhythm and learning his way around the league.
Will Deandre Ayton be shooting 3s this season? Doesn’t sound like it. pic.twitter.com/AWS3WVtrUp
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) December 1, 2018
“Not yet, not yet,” Deandre Ayton said, per Evan Sidery of the Bright Side of the Suns. “Right now, I’m still learning the personnel of my own team. Me, I’m a rhythm guy. You know, I just think, I say ‘Okay, he’s down there — should I take the shot just to take it?' No, I mean, I take rhythm shots. If I do a pick-and-pop, I’m shooting the ball. Trail three, I’ll do that, but not right now. Still figuring my way around this league.”
Ayton is averaging 16.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season while shooting 61.2 percent from the field. He is a gifted low-post scorer with graceful footwork, power and athleticism, and Phoenix is actually requesting that he dominates more inside and becomes more aggressive on the interior before he worries about taking his game outside.
“You know, modern basketball,” Kokoskov said of how he views big men shooting from deep. “Vucevic shooting threes. Marc Gasol shoots threes. Brook Lopez shoots threes. I’m not against it — we’re going to try to follow trend in this league (bigs attempting three-pointers) — but we also want him to dominate in the paint.”
Ayton is converting 76.3 percent of his attempts inside, so he isn't too far away from what the Suns want him to be. Nonetheless, even without a 3-point shot in his arsenal, the cornerstone center is still one of the biggest talents in the league.
*All stats gathered from Basketball Reference
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