AYTON LEADS SUNS’ SURGE
Playoffs could be showcase for talents
Jump hooks. Jumpers. Dunks. Transition buckets. Footwork.
Deandre Ayton is such a talented and skilled big, but he’s being asked to defend, rebound, screen, dive to the rim to help open up 3-point shooting for teammates — and also score.
“I know what type of player I am, but it’s about what my team needs,” Ayton said. “It’s not about me. It’s about what my team needs and it’s about what I need to get better at to help my team win.”
Sacrificing his scoring to a degree has led to Ayton averaging a career-low 14.9 points. He’s only attempting 10.4 shots from the field, also a career low, but
Phoenix is winning.
Like really winning.
With the second-best record in the NBA, the Suns (38-15) are on the fast track to returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2010 — and Ayton is loving his role in it.
“These are really my brothers and this the first team I’ve ever been a part of with a winning legacy,” Ayton said. “These are the most wins I’ve ever had. It’s a lot behind these wins. It’s not just winning games. We’re really building something here that can be everlasting.”
Looking into that promising future, Ayton can also see himself showing more of his offensive arsenal in the postseason.
“When playoffs come, it’s mano-a
“It’s not about me. It’s about what my team needs and it’s about what I need to get better at to help my team win.” Deandre Ayton Suns center
mano,” Ayton said. “We’re going to have to see everything. They think they’ve seen the dude that just rebounds and be a presence, but I’m way more than that.”
‘Their big doesn’t get enough credit’
Chris Paul has been a difference maker in his first season in Phoenix.
Devin Booker is now an established All-Star.
The Suns are deep. They defend and have multiple guys who can splash 3s. And then there’s Ayton, the X-factor. “He’s just a force down there when he wants to be and I think he feeds off the confidence we give him,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I think when we go to him down there, guys are telling him to seal or post up, I think that gives him confidence.”
And maybe he’s underappreciated, too.
“Their big doesn’t get enough credit,” Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks said.
Ayton is Phoenix’s top and true rebounder at 10.7 per game. He’s asked to not only protect the rim, but switch out on pick-and-roll and defend smaller, quicker guards.
“Not many guys his size has to do as much as he does,” Williams said. “The only other guy is maybe (Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert), and he’s (a two-time) defensive player of the year.”
‘I enjoy all this’
Ayton hasn’t become a superstar like Luka Doncic, who Phoenix could’ve taken with the top overall pick in 2018.
He doesn’t hammer it down with force like former Suns All-Star Amare Stoudemire repeatedly did.
Ayton may never live up to the lofty expectations coming out of Arizona in 2018 after a one-and-done All-American season, but he’s winning more than Doncic now and has helped the Suns return to a place they haven’t been since Steve Nash and Stoudemire were wrecking the league.
“I enjoy all this, I love my job,” Ayton said. “If they didn’t give me this responsibility, I don’t know what I would want to do to be honest. I would feel some type of way, but knowing my responsibility is all of this and they’re relying on me to do the things they know I can do, and I know I can do, is perfect. It’s a perfect team to be on.”
Ayton now has his Nash in Paul, too. When Phoenix traded four players, with two being starters in Kelly Oubre Jr. and Ricky Rubio, and a future first-round pick to Oklahoma City for one of the best point guards ever — who now has 10,000-plus career assists — people saw visions of Paul throwing the ball up and Ayton putting it down time and time again.
They’ve connected a time or two, but Paul’s bigger impact on Ayton has been showing him the how and why of playing in the league and demanding he do his job.
“I think it’s been a learning process for all of us,” Paul said. “DA has shown a lot of growth. This is a new situation for him. A lot of new sets. Obviously, playing with me probably isn’t the easiest thing, either.”
‘A lot more consistent’
While much has been made of the Paul-Booker relationship, Williams has said the Paul-Ayton connection is just as vital to Phoenix’s success.
“They play in pick-and-roll on both ends of the floor,” Williams said. “So that synergy between those two, if you look at any good team in the league, the 1-5 pickand-roll relationship is pretty important.”
Paul and Ayton have sat together in film sessions with just each other.
Ayton has been on the receiving end of Paul’s intense on-court instruction, hence the difficulty of playing with the perfectionist, but he’s embraced it all.
“If Chris sees something, he’s going to talk about it and he’s going to teach you,” Ayton said. “He’s just a perfect vet to be honest. He has the answer to all your questions.”
In turn, Paul recognizes Ayton’s improvement this season.
“His aggressiveness is where I’ve seen a lot of growth,” Paul said. “I think early in the season, it was sort of game-togame. Now he’s starting to be a lot more consistent.”
Ayton’s uptick in aggressiveness led to four straight double-doubles before Monday’s 18-point, eight-rebound effort in a win over Houston.
● April 5 at Houston — 27 points on 71.4% shooting, 11 rebounds.
● April 7 vs. Utah — 18 points on 56.3% shooting, 12 rebounds.
● April 8 at L.A. Clippers — 18 points on 81.8% shooting, 10 rebounds.
● April 10 vs. Washington — 14 points on 70% shooting, 10 rebounds.
Ayton has 28 double-doubles this season.
“I don’t think he really knows how dominant he can be in the paint,” Williams said.
‘It’s contagious’
Ayton has always been someone who celebrates the success of others.
Even when the Suns were suffering through their second-worst season in franchise history his rookie year, Ayton cheered those rare high moments.
Now that the Suns are winning — like really winning — Ayton gets so lit seeing his teammates shine.
“It’s just having a great group of guys,” Ayton said. “From the head of the snake, CP, Book, me, (Jae) Crowder, all the way down to our rooks. It’s just some great guys that (Suns General Manager James Jones and team owner Robert Sarver) put together.”
Seeing Booker fly through the lane for a dunk or Jevon Carter catch fire from 3 makes the already animated Ayton even more animated in his reactions.
“That type of stuff, it spreads and it’s contagious,” he said. “Everybody has the best interest in everybody.”
That same enthusiasm can also flip in a frustrated direction.
Case in point: Ayton let his emotions engulf him in the second half of a home win over Oklahoma City.
He banged his shooting hand on the white metal stand between the seats that holds water bottles. Ayton threw a towel.
Several teammates took turns trying to simmer him down.
“It was just being hard on myself, really ranting, and they know how I am,” Ayton said.
Williams was the last to talk to Ayton that night.
“I was just letting him know that we have to respond like pros,” Williams said.
‘So close’
Ayton said he apologized to Williams, but that sideline moment is one of many that makes him truly appreciate his relationship with his coach.
“Monty is the only coach I ever been so close with,” Ayton said. “I’m talking about on a personal level. I’ve never been so close to a coach in my life. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to my coaches this much. Texting me at night. Thinking about me. Checking up on me. Checking up on the baby. Just wanting to hear my thoughts on certain things or him talking about his life. It goes a long way. When you’re playing for somebody like that, you tend to play harder and listen to everything they say.”
Williams initially joked about fatherly advice he’s given Ayton, saying he can tell him “what not to do,” but he’s told his center about the importance of being a parent.
Ayton recently became the father of a son he named after himself.
“I’ve talked with him about the time you need to spend with your children,” Williams said. “We have above average finances and sometimes you think that’s going to be the thing that makes your kids happy. Finances, in my opinion, are awesome, but they just give you more options, but kids just want time.”
Just another reason why Ayton’s truly enjoying this season — and isn’t taking it for granted.
“The place we want to go, we’ve never been,” Ayton said. “This team has never been. Book and I have never been. We’ve got guys that’s been, but as a team, we don’t know what that’s like. The type of pace that we’re on and the mindset we have, we feel like this is our only opportunity to do this. So, we’re going all in. We’re staying together and we’re going all in.”