Suns center Deandre Ayton will be a restricted free agent this summer, but he says he’s focused on working hard and winning a championship this season, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.
The 20-4 Suns hold the second-best record in the league, trailing the Warriors by a half-game. Ayton says the key to the team’s success has been maximum effort.
“All of it is from experience from the Finals and playing hard,” Ayton said. “We play super hard. We don’t know how to stop playing hard. Ever since I went to the Finals, I don’t know how to stop competing more than 100%. We have to stay at this high level of camaraderie and I have to make sure we win the game.”
In 18 games this season (30.9 MPG), Ayton is averaging 16.3 PPG and 11.1 RPG. He says he has his eye on some individual awards as well.
“I want All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year,” Ayton said, per Spears. “I really want that. I want to be on that talk of First-Team Defense.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific Division:
- Russell Westbrook has been steadily improving throughout the season for the Lakers, prompting Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report to wonder whether people jumped the gun on judging the team’s trade to acquire him.
- The Lakers‘ season may hinge on whether LeBron James and Westbrook can form a winning partnership, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. McMenamin takes an in-depth look at the dynamic between the two players, noting that defensive lapses and turnovers have plagued the team. The duo’s chemistry has been slow to form with James sidelined for 12 games, but they’ve looked much better together recently.
- Rookie Brandon Boston Jr. had a breakout performance for the Clippers in their 114-111 victory over the Celtics Wednesday night, dropping 27 points and four steals in only 25 minutes and making 9-of-13 shots, including 5-of-8 threes. Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times writes that Boston is one of the keys to the Clippers’ present and future.
There’s still an Alex Caruso sized hole on defense.
I have no idea why Pelinka and Buss are getting a pass on the roster construction
You decide to give up half a team to get a $45M Westbrook but then decide paying luxury taxes for Caruso is too much
That’s ridiculous. If you’re willing to pay Westbrook you’re all in for the championship so paying Caruso should be a no brainer after that choice.
They won with defense then they went 180 degrees the opposite way this season. I’d say if it fails the blame must be on the GM and owner.
Kendrick Nunn costs less than a third of what Caruso signed for & is just as good or better than Caruso. His injury was unfortunate but obv not career ending. Nunn will be back soon enough & will fill that Caruso sized hole easily (& as I said for a fraction of the cost)
Nunn is an offensive dominant guard. Not known for his defense and plays a different style of game than Caruso. Don’t think that is the right comparison at all.
Lakers are struggling with their depth, it’s ok to admit that
Nunn is definitely better offensively than Caruso but he’s also a very good defender as well. I’m not sure how you figure their styles are different, they play same position & once Nunn is healthy he’ll fill basically the same role that AC had as LA’s 3rd guard. Lakers pretty much chose to replace AC with Nunn this summer. AC is obv playing great in Chicago but of course Nunn has also been great in this league when healthy & will no doubt continue to be the same guy when he comes back from injury.
Nunn is a point guard that can create his own shot and create plays for others. Caruso is a guard/forward that lives on hustle plays, defensive intensity and high IQ basketball. When I watch Miami the past couple seasons, I would see Nunn fall asleep on rotations, lose his man fighting through screens and not look great as an on-ball defender.
Pretty sure there was a point where Miami benched the guy b/c of these reasons.
Nunn will be a better Malik Monk for the Lakers. They got Bazemore to replace AC, but Baze is having a terrible start.
Nunn & AC are definitely both guards. Both guys can play either guard spot pretty much equally well tho Nunn is definitely the better scorer of the 2. I been watching AC for a long time & he’s very much not a forward. If you watched Nunn in Mia you saw him work thru screens & play tough defense way more often than you saw him fall asleep defensively. For some reason you chose only to remember his lapses but he’s definitely a good defender. Maybe you were confusing Tyler Herro for Nunn or something. Bazemore, Ellington, Ariza, those guys are 3&D wings, all on vet min contracts. AC was LA’s 3rd guard. Nunn when healthy will be LA’s 3rd guard. Nunn, like AC, will be one of the few Lakers not on a vet min contract. It’s pretty obv who the AC replacement was. He’s just been injured
is there another Kendrick Nunn you are talking about?? Nunn is a shooter not a defensive player. Caruso is much better of a player on defense and passing the ball.
I’m talking about the Kendrick Nunn thats a Chi-Town legend & was 1st team All-Rookie after going undrafted. Caruso is definitely better defensively than Nunn or most other guards. But Nunn is still a good defender. Conversely Nunn is a better scorer & is better overall offensively than AC but AC is still obv a good offensive player. These guys are both 2way players
We 1000% miss Alex
Instead of the Nunn comp we should head to the actual comp in THT which actually manifested
I don’t see Tht progressing enough in the quick amount of time we need.
He gets flashy points which get remembered but is way too TO prone, doesn’t set up others, doesn’t board and most depressing is regressing on defense all while not being a good fit for this team
It was a huge error no doubt. With the Bibigo/Cryto/ and revitalization around the area coming end next year it kinda makes you scratch your head they couldn’t have just said the hell with it tho and had all 3 today for nothing more than money (nominal amounts in the grand scheme).
BJ Boston, Ant Edwards, Malcolm Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, Jabari Smith Jr, Collin Sexton, Malik Beasley, Chuma Okeke, Wendell Carter Jr, Ike Okoro, Devin Vassell, Sharife Cooper & more… Is there anywhere else on earth (other than possibly LA) that is producing more NBA talent than ATL rn?
Can’t forget about Big Dwight Howard and Derrick Favors
Akron, OH
Not even close, tbh the whole state of Ohio isn’t producing talent near the level that metro ATL is, but the young kid Livingston is gonna be a beast tho
Oh yea we got plenty of OGs as well, especially my guy Lou Williams, the HOFer Dwight & the APS/Tech legend DFave. The young talent comin from the A is ridiculous tho. It’s never been like this before, even during the Dwight/Josh/Lou era
Which big man would you rather have on your team if you can have them from the date by their name til the end of their career, 2021 DeAndre Ayton, 1980 Jack Sikma, 2013 DeMarcus Cousins, 2004 Yao Ming or 1989 Arvydas Sabonis? Rank a top3 if possible…
1/ DMC
2/ Sabonis
3/ Yao
4/ Sikma
5/ Ayton
Sabonis, Sikma, Ayton.
Are these polls of your’s a passive aggressive way to suggest you know more of hoops history than some of the posters here?
You’d probably be right!
Lol I have so many questions right now. 1. Why Sabonis over the other guys? I feel like his legend has far outgrown his actual greatness as a player 2. How is asking questions about basketball history a passive aggressive way of suggesting I have more hoops knowledge than others? Seems like you, by answering the question with your own opinion, much moreso than me are suggesting that your hoop knowledge is superior to others. I’m just the one asking the question trying to spark the type of basketball debates that I like to see and participate in. In my view this site (as well as just most basketball discourse in general) is dominated by dumb back & forth about stuff like who’s better bw MJ/Bron/Kobe, is Zion too fat, are the Lakers too old & is Philly fining Ben Simmons enough? Im extremely secure in my belief that few if anyone on here knows as much about basketball as I do but tbh I wish that wasn’t the case & that there were more people willing and able to engage in what I consider to be relevant debate about the game past, present & future
DMC has won nothing and had a career curtailed by injury. Talented but a fake tough guy.
Yao was primarily a star because of physical presence and cultural significance amidst a nice stretch of good seasons. Again, won nothing… I was tempted to have him at 3.
We have footage and record of Sabonis’ success and skill pre-NBA and once in the NBA he started for a perennial conference final threat in an era dominated by peak Shaq. No-brainer that he’s above these guys.
Sikma – NBA champ, All Star, all defense, college legend. A trailblazer in a small way.
Ayton – too early to tell so it was a bet-hedging throw-in at number 3.
I agree – wish this site was more of a forum than whatever it currently is.
Cousins won nothing in Sacramento bc he played on terrible teams. He won the SEC in college, the gold medal in Rio & the West Conf title in GSW when he was on great teams. I don’t understand the fake tough guy part tho. And he definitely got a lot of dominance in before the injuries curtailed his career, arguably moreso than Arvydas… As far as Yao it was his extreme skill along with his incredible physical presence that made him so great. His cultural significance was/is great for the game but that didn’t matter once he was on the court. Totally agree that he didn’t win much & had a short prime but skills/size wise he’s probably the best of the group… As far as Sabonis there’s definitely plenty of footage of him before & after both of his major injuries & I’ve seen a good deal of it. He was obv a very talented big man & would’ve made an impact in the NBA if he played his whole career here. But his main American rival was David Robinson & tho he played Robinson well at times it just seems extremely obvious to me from watching him that he was no David Robinson. Also other than the 88 gold medal what did Sabonis win worth writing home about? Robinson actually outplayed him in ’88 (as well as numerous other times). We have plenty of footage of Cousins & Yao from the time before their injuries too & please lmk what you think those 2 guys would’ve done to the European leagues if they would’ve spent their prime years there instead of the NBA? I’m sure you know they would’ve completely dominated as much or more than Sabonis did in the late 80s/early 90s.
Different eras. I’m sure if Keith Closs played in the 40s he’d be a legend.
Sabonis won euroleague championships. He was locked out due to politic bs.
They’re all great players. DC had the talent to be a great player but his body, situation and temperament let him down.
Different eras? Lol nah bro prime Boogie & Yao clearly would’ve dominated the Spanish/Russian leagues of any era including this current era, Sabonis’ era or the one 20yrs from now. Sabonis won EuroLeague titles just like those guys would have. You say Boogie “had the talent to be a great player”, implying that he somehow wasn’t a great player. He clearly was. He was literally the best 5 in the world for multiple yrs (as was Yao) which is something I’m not sure Sabonis can rightfully claim. Boogie’s temperament never stopped him from being great from what I remember. His temperament definitely made it easier for ESPN & media to be negative toward him & made him less likable to a lot of people but I mean Charles Barkley, Rasheed Wallace, Draymond Green & others have a similar manner & nobody would say it stopped then from being great. If Philly takes Boogie #2 instead of Evan Turner & he got to play with Jrue, Lou, Thad, Iggy & those guys I think he’s a lock HOFer at this point even with the eventual injury troubles
Now there’s insight from espn. Westbrook and Bron must come together. Lakers will be better second half. But their run is over.
Like how a reporter is accusing “people” of jumping the gun on judging the Westbrook situation. Sports reporting now consists of jumping from one to hot take to the next. They created the problem and continue to fan the flames.
Lol Westbrook slowly becoming an NBA caliber player doesn’t justify the absurd cost of both talent and dollars wasted on him. No one is saying Westbrook belongs in the G League. They’re just saying LA could have just signed a sixth man instead.
Of course, always bad business to sign a former MVP, a surefire lock HoF that still performs very easily & comfortable at All-Star level, yeah how can that ever be good?
For sure signing some scrub that you find lying around it will work out better, right?
It would be a good move if the Lakers actually did “sign” Westbrook though. But they didn’t. They traded $200 mil and valuable players instead.
Can’t just consider the return and ignore the cost.
Cousins-Sikma-Ming
Speaking of the Lakers backcourt,what about Evans joining up?Rookie of the yr and him and AD are like brothers.Evans is an oversized guard who can create and play multiple positions.Nunn and Evans would be huge upgrades to the rotation.