After five seasons with the Phoenix Suns after becoming the No. 1 overall pick, Deandre Ayton was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers this past offseason. Ayton, a 25-year-old center who’s averaged a double-double throughout his NBA career, got off to a rough start in Portland, which included battling knee tendinitis.
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While Ayton’s play has improved as of late, scoring in double figures in six of his past seven games, one local Blazers insider says the seven-foot center had a myriad of issues adjusting to life after being traded to Portland.
Deandre Ayton reportedly had an issue with throwing tantrums and tardiness
As mentioned, Deandre Ayton is once again averaging a double-double, at 13.8 PPG and 10.2 RPG, he’s also on track to set a new career low in scoring despite playing the same amount of minutes as he did in Phoenix. Not to mention, it’s not like Portland is playing winning basketball where there aren’t enough shots to go around in the pursuit of sharing the rock.
So what’s been the issue with Ayton in Portland? Jason Quick of The Athletic recently dropped an interesting nugget about the first overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft.
“Although his play has spiked for the better in the past month, 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.”
The Athletic’s Jason Quick on Deandre Ayton’s time with Portland Trail Blazers
Tardiness and tantrums? While it may be a bit reasonable for Ayton to need extra time to get used to living in a new area, we can’t help but wonder how long the tardiness went on, or how blatant the issues became.
Then, there’s the tantrums. This is not a LeBron James-level talent we’re talking about here. Ayton, while good, is a replaceable part of this team, just as the Suns felt.
Some players may be good enough to get away with a few extra disturbances, but Ayton isn’t there. He can’t afford to cause his own team distractions, especially if his play doesn’t make up for whatever off-court issues he’s creating.
Yet, as Quick mentioned, these issues seem to be in the past for Ayton, so maybe it’s all uphill from here. If not, well the Blazers are set to pay him north of $30 million per season through 2026. They better hope he doesn’t become a bigger problem.
