Ayton

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I'm pleasantly surprised that Ayton is producing even in the face of losing every night. While I am not a massive fan of his game (he's not a big-time shotblocker and he doesn't pass not stretch the defense as well as I'd prefer in a center) and he's overpaid, he's been at least as good as I was hoping when we got him.

It will be interesting to see if he's still around when we have a good team... I hope so, and at age 25 it seems likely.
 
Natebishop3 said:
Nurk didn't want to be here. He's older now. He's injury prone. He's inconsistent.

And we got Camara out of the deal. There's no downside.
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Disagree. I've seen nothing to make me believe Ayton is less injury prone than Nurk. I also think Ayton is less consistent than Nurk. I didn't understand the move at the time and I still don't.
 
tlongII said:
Disagree. I've seen nothing to make me believe Ayton is less injury prone than Nurk. I also think Ayton is less consistent than Nurk. I didn't understand the move at the time and I still don't.
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What's not to understand? He specifically said that if Dame was traded, they'd all be traded. I didn't see any indication that he wanted to be here. He didn't fit our rebuild window.
 
Ayton was worth the gamble. If it does not work, it's replacing one piece that did not work (Nurk) for another. If it works when this team is good, even better. Add TC to the equation and this was the kind of trade you hope a FO does for a team in Portland's situation every time.
 
HISTORY: Ayton wasn’t getting max years, max $$$, and max raises from Phoenix, but he wasn’t walking out the door. [Besides not deserving it, Phoenix also wanted to preserve the opportunity to trade for a young fella on a max 2nd contract, and a true max to Ayton would have nixed that possibility.]. When a trade did not happen PRIOR to the Indiana offer, it was a matter of time until Monty would want him gone. That was an easy call back then.

Ayton at $34 MM and $35.5 MM for two years is tradeable; I wouldn’t expect a wide open market, but it’s fine. I’d prefer a trade, but his weaknesses are fixable if he wants to do so. I hope for a Sarr-sized mini-miracle. Short of that, fix the forwards.
 
here's a DA highlight package from 2 years ago. He had some wheels, Ayton could book down the court.

I know he's been dealing with knee injuries. I honestly don't remember seeing Deandre running full court sprint during his games in Portland.

*on a side note, better floor spacing, more intricate play calling, and really good passers seem to help Ayton's game.

 
Natebishop3 said:
I get that he hasn't lived up to the expectations of a #1, but god people just love to have a hate boner for this guy. I really don't get it. He isn't even in the top 10 most disappointing Blazers of my generation.
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Some people just love to hate though. Period.
 
tlongII said:
Disagree. I've seen nothing to make me believe Ayton is less injury prone than Nurk. I also think Ayton is less consistent than Nurk. I didn't understand the move at the time and I still don't.
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In Nurk’s 12 seasons, he has only played in 60 or more games four times.
Ayton has played in 60 or more games three of his six seasons, with a fourth at 58 games.
That’s pretty telling on the injury side of things.

Then there is Camara.
Then there is the age factor.

Im not getting your take at all. Sorry.
 
MickZagger said:
Ayton’s our future at the 5. We need a 3 and a 4

Get rid of Simons and Grant this offseason and hand the keys to the youth.
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unless a team has a Jokic or a healthy Embiid, I don't think any team has much future at stake at the C position. Generically, C has turned into the least impactful position.

maybe the NBA pendulum will start swinging the other way, but even if it does I can't see Ayton having a big impact
 
I like Ayton and I liked Nurk but Ayton can run like a deer and is 25 years old. Nurk really needed a new landscape after Dame left anyway. I still like Nurk and Nurk still loves Portland. No bad blood there at all...he's like Rolo. A guy who fit in Portland culture.
 
wizenheimer said:
unless a team has a Jokic or a healthy Embiid, I don't think any team has much future at stake at the C position. Generically, C has turned into the least impactful position.

maybe the NBA pendulum will start swinging the other way, but even if it does I can't see Ayton having a big impact
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I'll take a guy at C who has already been the fourth best player on a finals team and should still have his best basketball ahead of him.
 
riverman said:
I like Ayton and I liked Nurk but Ayton can run like a deer and is 25 years old. Nurk really needed a new landscape after Dame left anyway. I still like Nurk and Nurk still loves Portland. No bad blood there at all...he's like Rolo. A guy who fit in Portland culture.
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No question. This is the DA I was hoping to get when I had been cheering on the thought of acquiring him months prior to the trade. Sometimes guys need a change of scenery and a new coach.

Hoping he keeps it up and makes me look smart to the people who didn't want him.
 
blazerkor said:
I'll take a guy at C who has already been the fourth best player on a finals team and should still have his best basketball ahead of him.
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ok...and that has nothing to do with what I said....

"fourth best player"....that's actually what I'm saying. C's are just not that important unless they are unicorns like Jokic. Phoenix could have made it to the finals that season with a lot of different C's, IMO. They could not have made it there without Booker, or CP3, or Bridges
 
BLAZINGGIANTS said:
This version of Ayton is a top-15 player in the league.
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oh-wow-saturday-night-live.gif
 
BonesJones said:
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he's a max player. He's proving he's a max player. I think that tweet about Deandre has "nothing to prove", was a self confidence statement misinterpreted, then turned into a meme on Twitter. The world of Ayton haters are eating crow right now.
 
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CJ_is_Gone said:
He's been playing really well, but not even close to top 15.

I could hear an argument that he's been the best Blazer for the last 10 games... maybe even a top 30 player. But not even close to top 15
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What would this place without some hyperbole and a massive over-correction? Now we've got to go from defending Ayton as not being garbage to pumping the brakes on production during meaningless March games.

Love to see Ayton playing better though!
 
Ayton's 3 game hot streak since returning from hand sprain, FGA is +10 from season average. Some takes are off broken plays and missed shots, and Deandre is using premiere gobbling skills.
 
Whyachi said:
he's a max player. He's proving he's a max player. I think that tweet about Deandre has "nothing to prove", was a self confidence statement misinterpreted, then turned into a meme on Twitter. The world of Ayton haters are eating crow right now.
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He said he had nothing to prove because he was a max player.

Still, hes averaging almost identical numbers to 2021-2022 Nurkic. He needs to play like this all the time to be a max player. Problem is his performances have always been up and down. Hopefully this high is sustained though.
 
Ayton has been on a tear lately, since coming back from whatever injury he had. If he can finish this way, it'll give the team a glimmer of hope going into the offseason. Though I fear he'll regress at some point.
 
Last ten games:
upload_2024-3-14_11-19-9.png
For comparison (Ayton isn't in this list because he hasn't played a minimum of 6 games):
upload_2024-3-14_11-20-28.png
(Unrelated but FUCK San Antonio for hitting the jackpot three fucking times while we get LaRue Martin, Mychal Thompson and Greg Oden.)
 
Ayton still needs to improve on his overall scoring efficiency. This season he's averaging 1.24 points/shot. The Blazer team is averaging 1.21 points/shot. Nurkic this season is averaging 1.35 points/shot, and we all know Nurkic is not as good a pure shooter as Ayton. Ayton's career mark is 1.34, so he's been better at it in Phoenix than this season in Portland

points/shot this season:

Gobert 1.69
Embiid 1.59
Porzingis 1.55
Zubac 1.54
Sabonis 1 .52
Jokic 1.48
Myles Turner 1.45
AD 1.45
Looney 1.43
Holmgren 1.42
KAT 1.42
Sengun 1.36
Nurkic 1.34
Adebayo 1.33
Jaren Jackson 1.29
Wembyana 1.28
Ayton 1.24
Vucevic 1.10 (yikes!)

(we all know why Ayton lags significantly in points/shot, but it's a stat category that really seems to rankle the hell out of some people when mentioned)

to be sure, you need to gauge those numbers by usage and assisted FG rate; how much of their offense they create for themselves. And where the players rank in the hierarchy of defensive priority by opponents

and obviously, for bigs & C's, there are other gauges of value like rebounding (where Ayton is bordering on elite: 17th in off reb rate; 7th in def reb rate; 9th in total reb rate); defense (where Ayton is average); and passing/facilitation (where Ayton is weak)
 
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