PHOENIX SUNS

Suns C Deandre Ayton ranked No. 52 in ESPN’s top 100 NBA players

Dec 8, 2020, 6:34 PM

Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns reacts against the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at Ame...

Deandre Ayton #22 of the Phoenix Suns reacts against the Dallas Mavericks in the second half at American Airlines Center on January 28, 2020 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Deandre Ayton is going to have high expectations in his third season with the Phoenix Suns and ESPN’s latest player rankings indicate just that.

Ayton is ranked No. 52 in the outlet’s top 100 players heading into the 2020-21 season.

Ayton had a fabulous offseason. The Suns acquired Chris Paul — offensive efficiency in a can — and that means Ayton gets to team up with a playmaker bound to get him clean looks near the rim. Now can Ayton become a dominant rim-runner in pick-and-roll actions with CP3? If he can, the Suns are going to be a problem.

The 22-year-old is notably ranked ahead of other bigs like Jusuf Nurkic, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Myles Turner.

Ayton last season averaged 18.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft was First Team All-Rookie in his first season the year prior.

The player primarily responsible for getting Ayton the ball this year will be changing from Ricky Rubio to Chris Paul. With only spots 51-100 revealed, Paul is still to come higher in the rankings, while Rubio was slotted in at 93rd.

Ayton is looking forward to playing with Paul.

“Just knowing the type of tradition and the type of dude and the type of career he had and the foundation he laid in this league, it’s tremendous,” Ayton said Thursday. “And knowing that I’m gonna be a part of his legacy? Oh yeah. I can’t stop moving. I want to lift more weights.

“It’s go time. You have a future Hall of Famer coming here to really show us the ropes and help me and Book out as young guys who can really take over this league.”

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