Ayton pivotal to Suns’ playoff return
Drafting Deandre Ayton No. 1 overall in 2018 out of Arizona was supposed to lead to an immediate return to the playoffs for Phoenix.
The Suns instead won just 19 games his rookie year.
Then they hired a new coach in Monty Williams, reconstructed the roster and began Ayton’s second NBA season with a convincing win over Sacramento.
The next day, Ayton received a 25game suspension for testing positive for a diuretic. The Suns went 10-15 during that stretch and wound up falling just short of the play-in tournament for the eighth and final playoff spot after a stunning 8-0 bubble run last summer.
A year later, Phoenix, after trading for Chris Paul and adding Jae Crowder to its core group, has the NBA’s second-best record and Ayton has played a major part in the Suns returning to the postseason for the first time since 2010.
“It was time,” Ayton said before Friday’s showdown against NBA-leading Utah (44-17), as he’s averaging 14.8 points on a career-best 62% shooting and 10.7 rebounds.
“To me, I think we would’ve been in the playoffs a little earlier if I didn’t get into trouble the beginning of my second year, but I’m grateful that we’re here and we’re solid from top to bottom. It’s a new experience for me.”
Having fun and winning games, Ayton said the Suns (44-18) are looking to “close out the season strong” in preparing for “the next level,” — playoffs.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Suns guard Devin Booker said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Booker, Ayton and Mikal Bridges are the three remaining players from the 2018-19 team that finished 19-63 in posting the second-worst record in franchise history.
Two years later, they’ve clinched the playoffs with10 games remaining in regular season and secured a top-six spot to avoid the play-in tournament, in which the seven through 10 conference finishers will vie for the last two playoff slots.
“It’s really special,” Ayton said. “With a new team like like this, I didn’t really expect us to really be in this situation. Not to say that my expectations were less. This is a new team and we’re just going to get in our groove somehow, but it’s right in front of us and it’s ours for the taking. We’ve just got to remain locked in and keep winning and keep chipping at it everyday because the playoffs is a whole new level.”
While this will be the first postseason run for Booker and Ayton, the two-time All-Star is already trying to get his big man to understand what to expect when the playoffs begin May 22.
Case in point.
After getting fouled on a shot attempt in Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, Ayton got an earful from Booker as he was headed to the line.
“Book is like a big brother to me, he is a big brother to me,” Ayton said. “He knows me best. With me, you don’t really have to beat around the bush just to get me going.”
Ayton scored just five points on 2of-8 shooting, but grabbed 11 rebounds with six coming on the offensive boards to keep possessions alive for the Suns.
“(Booker) was telling me this is how the playoffs are going to be,” Ayton continued. “I wasn’t really finishing around the rim like I wanted to and he was just telling me, DA, keep attacking the glass and keep going and never stop being relentless. This is what you’re going to get. This is a reward. I was just locked in and mad at myself for missing all these little hook shots and putbacks, but he was just keeping me engaged, saying this is how the playoffs are going to be. It’s not all going to look good.”