The view around the league is that the Portland Trail Blazers reportedly see new acquisition Deandre Ayton “in the vein of a top-five center” in the NBA, according to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The view around the league is the Blazers see Deandre Ayton in the vein of a top-five center in the league, per @VinceGoodwill pic.twitter.com/1WD37N8G99
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 30, 2023
Portland acquired the former Suns’ No. 1 overall pick in this three-team trade on Wednesday:
- Bucks Receive:Â Damian Lillard
- Blazers Receive:Â Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, 2029 1st round pick via Bucks and two pick swaps with the Bucks
- Suns Receive: Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson and Grayson Allen
Ayton will make the seventh-most money this season among centers if you include Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns. However, Goodwill did not include Davis and Towns as centers in this story.
Here are some other centers to consider in this ranking:
- Nikola Jokic
- Joel Embiid
- Domantas Sabonis
- Bam Adebayo
- Brook Lopez
- Nikola Vučević
- Rudy Gobert
Here’s a top-15 list by Hoops Hype which puts Ayton at 10 and doesn’t feature new Suns’ center Jusuf Nurkić.
HoopsHype’s top 15 centers for the 2023-24 season:
1. Nikola Jokic
2. Joel Embiid
3. Domantas Sabonis
4. Bam Adebayo
5. Myles Turner
6. Victor Wembanyama
7. Nikola Vucevic
8. Rudy Gobert
9. Nic Claxton
10. Deandre Ayton
11. Jarrett Allen
12. Brook Lopez
13. Alperen…— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 29, 2023
Yesterday, Portland posted a video where Ayton looked extremely happy in the team’s facility.
some new faces in the building! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/WGdj65B982
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) September 29, 2023
He will have the opportunity to have a much bigger role with the Blazers than he’s had with Phoenix the past few years.
Will he be able to make the most of it and overcome his struggles?
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
