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To this point the Blazers haven't played through Ayton in the post. He has been playing well though overall. Main factor is likely that all of our guards die before getting a rapport going with him. Scoot, Simons, and Brogdon all out so we are playing a 2 way guy and THE GOAT Skylar Mays.
The Blazers offense is currently built around an unstoppable combination of putrid 3 point shooting and Jerami Grant isos so not a lot of post offense for Ayton.
Yeah Ayton has the lowest usage of his career, the lowest assist rate of his career, and the lowest dunk rate of his career. He’s still scoring efficiently around the basket (70%), and he’s actually been an elite midrange shooter thus far (58%) but he’s not a guy who can create for himself so he needs the guards to get him the ball in his spots, which the Blazers haven’t been yet, as you say, in part because the offense itself is in turmoil due to all our lead guards facing injuries.
Hard to lay the blame at Ayton’s feet when he converts the opportunities within the flow of the game- he’s certainly overpaid for his current role, but I wouldn’t necessarily accuse him of underperforming, he hasn’t exceeded expectations, but he has been a plus defensive anchor, cleaned the glass at a high level, and offensively he hasn’t complained about a lack of touches but has been passing well, moving to his spots, and finishing with deftness whenever the shot is his to take.
It’s still weird. He’s 16th in the NBA in paint touches, ahead of Embiid, Porzingis, and Zion. For him to have attempted 3 free throws in 9 games as a centre is comical.
Ethicayton
That sounds like Dominating indeed.
Have you seen how few times his Portland teammates pass to him?! They're bizarrely, stupidly, deliberately using him as a 5th option, despite trading to get him and paying him $32M.
He doesn't want it. Says he wants it, but actions speak louder than words
this was the centerpiece of the dame trade
It’s because DominAYTON only plays ethical basketball obviously
I'm basing it off of what he is, and what he needs. 91% of his made shots were assisted on last year,he's a guy who needs playmaking guards to set him up to get him in his spots. Due to injuries and youth, he doesn't have that right now, but my point is that even when you feed him with the best playmaking guards in the league, we'll still watch him and expect more.
What has been encouraging though is that he's still locked into defense for the most part, he's a ballerina compared to Nurkic, and still a beast on the boards. I just don't feel like he's the missing piece on any competitive team in the league, and when Portland is ready to take the next step, they'll look at his 18/10 on the season and wonder why he didn't make much of a difference.