DeAndre Ayton and Arizona’s tournament run ended sooner than virtually anyone expected — in the first round, to a No. 13 seed, during a blowout. Ayton was better than his teammates, scoring 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, but Buffalo trounced the Wildcats with a 89-68 final score. It was only the third time that a No. 4 seed had lost by that many points in the first round.
Arizona received the upset of the tournament, but it wasn’t DeAndre Ayton’s fault
There’s no big man more skilled than Ayton in this tournament, but it wasn’t enough to lead his team to a win.
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This reflects more on Arizona than Ayton, who is a dominant big man playing in a dated scheme. Their matchup against Buffalo was a worst-case scenario — while the Bulls lacked size, they ran with the fifth-fastest tempo in college basketball and had great shooters that could take advantage of Arizona’s poor perimeter defense. I’d say 15-of-30 shooting behind the arc, like Buffalo achieved, is exactly that.
Ayton is out of the tournament, but he’ll still go very high in the coming NBA Draft this June.
What will front offices think of his performance?
Again, it doesn’t make much sense to blame Ayton for his performance on Thursday — too often, Arizona’s guards failed to force the ball inside to him. Ayton has growing skills and is working on developing his jump shot, but he’s not a perimeter player by any means. He needs good looks, and he only got 13 attempts against Buffalo.
One thing that Ayton is praised for is his perimeter defense and generally ability to stay upright even against guards, something you can see here.
Buffalo’s Jeremy Harris drains this shot recorded above, but I like Ayton forcing him into a long stepback two-pointer. There are still questions about Ayton’s rim protection not being good enough (despite average nearly two blocks per game), but most people like his chances to match star guards here and there.
Why should I want my team to draft Ayton?
His scouting report might as well be him standing up and shaking the hand of any NBA general manager who may draft him this June. This season, he averaged 20.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game this season, all while shooting 61.6 percent from the field.
Let’s be careful not to reduce Ayton only to his athleticism and size; he’s a 19-year-old kid with interests and a life we’re sure to find out more about in the coming years. But so far, Ayton has emerged onto the sports stage thanks to his rise at Arizona.
Ayton truly feels like a 90s-era big man, but still with a modern twist, of course. He has increasingly shown skills this season — hitting 36 percent behind the arc, although he only took one attempt per game — and those flashes have helped vault him up draft boards. Ayton isn’t valued only for his 7’1 height, 7’6 wingspan, and 260-pound body that can only improve further in an NBA weight room; he’s expected to develop further skills, too.
Most draft experts see Ayton as either the first or second overall selection in a few months. Here’s your chance to see him before he joins the NBA.
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