Elhassan: Deandre Ayton’s Summer League reminiscent of Porzingis
Jul 13, 2018, 10:51 AM | Updated: Jul 14, 2018, 7:38 pm
Dallas Mavericks' Josh Adams, left, shoots around Phoenix Suns' Deandre Ayton during the first half of an NBA summer league basketball game Friday, July 6, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
(AP Photo/John Locher)
Deandre Ayton has averaged a double-double in the Las Vegas Summer League but some fans are still waiting for when he will become a dominant force who can take over a game.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft has averaged 14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.0 block per game through four games played; steady, but not eye popping.
ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, who joined 98.7 Arizona’s Sports Station’s Doug & Wolf, said that Ayton’s Summer League performance has reminded him of another up-and-coming big man in the NBA.
“Watching Kristaps Porzingis his first Summer League, his numbers didn’t pop out. But watching him play, one of the hardest things is for bigs to play in Summer League because it’s a very guard-driven environment,” Elhassan said.
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“Porzingis, even though he had awful guard discipline, kept doing the right things over and over again in Summer League.”
Ayton has showed that same mentality to Elhassan in his first action as a pro.
“Ayton’s numbers are a lot better than Porzingis’ was in his debut Summer League, but there’s a little bit of the same things going on. There’s a lot of times they couldn’t even throw an entry pass into him, but that didn’t stop him from trying to do the right thing… and that’s very encouraging,” Elhassan said.
Ayton’s best performance probably came against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday when he posted 21 points and 12 rebounds. Ayton played a team-high 29 minutes in the 71-63 win.
The Summer Suns won their first three games of the Las Vegas Summer League but lost in the opening playoff game. They have one more game against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
