{"id":68101,"date":"2024-03-14T10:18:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T14:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68101"},"modified":"2024-03-14T10:18:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T14:18:48","slug":"blazers-polarizing-deandre-ayton-responds-haters-hot-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/14\/blazers-polarizing-deandre-ayton-responds-haters-hot-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"Polarizing Blazers Pillar Responds to \u2018Haters\u2019 Amid Hot Streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton<\/a> has been on a tear<\/a> since the All-Star Break.<\/p>\n

In his last six games, the 2018 No. 1 pick has averaged 24.3 points (on 64.2 percent shooting from the field) and 15.3 rebounds per game. His pre-All-Star Break numbers \u201413.8 points (on 56.0 percent shooting from the field) and 10.4 rebounds per game \u2014pale in comparison.<\/p>\n

Finally, the player who won both Pac-12 Rookie of the Year and Pac-12 Player of the Year as a one-and-done prospect at Arizona appears to be approaching the All-Star stratosphere.<\/p>\n

Deandre Ayton Responds to \u2018Haters\u2019 Amid Hot Streak<\/h2>\n

If only it hasn\u2019t taken him so long. Ayton may have been an All-Star already. Or, at least, an All-Star candidate. He may never have been traded by the Phoenix Suns either.<\/p>\n

After all, the Suns liked Ayton enough to match the four-year, $133 million contract<\/a> he signed with the Indiana Pacers as a restricted free agent in 2022. A year later, Phoenix traded Ayton to Portland as part of the multi-team deal that sent Damian Lillard<\/a> to the Milwaukee Bucks.<\/p>\n

The Suns didn\u2019t have to do that. They just wanted to. Still displaying the inconsistent effort that repeatedly showed up as a red flag on his pre-draft scouting reports, Ayton had run himself out of Arizona.<\/p>\n

It must be noted that in his time with the Suns, Ayton was an upper-echelon rebounder and underrated defender.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, it always seemed like Ayton was just a bit limited as a player, particularly offensively. To that point, when the Suns traded him, they did so with team fit in mind<\/a>. There was no malfeasance on the Suns\u2019 part. Especially as they sent Ayton to a franchise where he fit the timeline and had more opportunities to develop.<\/p>\n

That said, the primary difference between him and Jusuf Nurkic<\/a> \u2014who replaced Ayton as their starting center<\/a> \u2014is that Nurkic has demonstrated greater ability as a passer and 3-point threat. Nurkic is also a seasoned veteran at 29 years old, whereas the now 25-year-old Ayton had yet to enter his prime.<\/p>\n

\u2018Wearing the Cape All the Way\u2019<\/h3>\n

In the six games that he\u2019s played since the All-Star Break, Ayton has scored at least 20 points in five. Now comfortably shooting from the midrange, he\u2019s scored at least 30 points in two of those contests.<\/p>\n

In looking at his work on the glass, Ayton has been in double-figures in each of those games. He\u2019s also pulled down at least 15 boards in four contests. Defensively, Ayton has at least one block in four of those six games. He has at least one steal in five of them.<\/p>\n

Invigorated by both his doubters and his responsibilities to the team, Ayton says: \u201cComing into these games, I\u2019m trying to do everything<\/a>\u201d (per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report).<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do my requirements, my role for this team, but do a lot more,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat\u2019s where I\u2019m at. I\u2019m more dominant. People like to laugh at it, but it\u2019s the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expounding on his thoughts about his many detractors, Ayton says he \u201cjust be trying to bust that a**. I listen and I hear it and I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank these haters for it,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt\u2019s making me approach this game the right way. Carry the PDX on my back all the way\u2026 I\u2019m wearing the cape all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never shy about touting his ability, Ayton can say just about anything he wants if he\u2019s keeping this up. Not in the least because, right now, he looks exactly like the superhero he claims to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton has been on a tear since the All-Star Break. In his last six games, the 2018 No. 1 pick has averaged 24.3 points (on 64.2 percent shooting from the field) and 15.3 rebounds per game. His pre-All-Star Break numbers \u201413.8 points (on 56.0 percent shooting from the field) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":68129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1608,62,3],"tags":[1419],"class_list":["post-68101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trailblazers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-deandre-ayton"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}