Deandre Ayton’s time in Portland has not gone the way many given a fresh start would think, and reportedly it has been troublesome from the beginning.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“His first months in Portland were defined by tardiness and tantrums according to team sources. And there has been an eerie resemblance to Hassan Whiteside, the former Blazers’ center whose statistics looked nice, but had little to no impact on a game,” reports The Athletic’s Jason Quick.
Deandre Ayton's early tenure in Portland was characterized by ‘tardiness and tantrums,’ per @jwquick
“His first months in Portland were defined by tardiness and tantrums according to team sources. And there has been an eerie resemblance to Hassan Whiteside, the former Blazers'… pic.twitter.com/PAALdyES3I
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 9, 2024
Ayton is averaging a career-low 13.8 points in 34 games this season for the 15-36 Blazers, who are in 14th place in the Western Conference. Even so, he made the proclamation earlier this season that: “I got nothing to prove in this league. I’m a max player, and I’ll continue to be a max player.”
The Suns matched a four-year, $133 million deal for Ayton back in July of 2022 after the big man originally signed with the Indiana Pacers. The former No. 1 overall pick was traded to the Blazers on Sept. 27 after a very up-and-down tenure in Phoenix.
Most notably, Ayton helped the Suns reach the 2021 NBA Finals. During this run, he had one of the best plays in team history now known as the “Valley Oop.”
However, Ayton’s inconsistent play on the Suns had fans calling for a trade of the big man for a while, but more so than ever after a rough end to the 2022-23 season. This was highlighted by Ayton getting benched during the team’s last playoff series against the Nuggets.
All in all, Ayton played in 303 total regular season games for Phoenix, starting 296 of them. He averaged 16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and one block on 59.7% shooting across his five seasons in the Valley.
Now, he apparently has not changed his behavior at all in Portland.
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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
