DeAndre Ayton Will Need Quality Facilitation
A young interior oriented big man like DeAndre Ayton is going to need a strong facilitation impact from his supporting cast. He was one of the most efficient high volume offensive players in the NCAA last season, and that was mostly because of his heavy involvement as a cutter, his highly efficient post-game, and his offensive rebounding. The NBA is a pick-and-roll reliant league and that area of his game is mostly unproven.
Ayton was involved as a roll man in the pick-and-roll for 14.6% of his offensive possessions last season, and he produced only 0.909 points per possessions. His production ranked 42nd out of the 47 players with at least 75 of these possessions. There is a lot of potential for Ayton in this area of the game but having a proficient passing point guard would significantly help him in this area.
The Suns are going to have to work with Ayton on his screening, approach to rolling, and finishing before he will be able to unlock his maximum potential on rolls to the basket. It didn’t help that he only had 22 total possessions worth of rolls to the basket with the Wildcats, which accounted for only 25% of his pick-and-roll possessions. It is especially important for him that he has a point guard that can ease him along in this area.
DeAndre Ayton will take time to develop in the pick-and-roll. He only had 22 total possessions worth of rolls to the basket and produced only 1 PPP, which ranked 318th out of 395 players with at least 20 possessions. His screening, finishing, and approach to rolling need work. pic.twitter.com/jLRNLZkS7R
— Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) July 22, 2018
A significant contributor to Ayton’s success last season was his involvement as a cutter. He had 22.1% of his offensive possessions come in the form of cuts, and he produced 1.376 points per possession in these sequences. His efficiency ranked 2nd in the NCAA among the 60 players with at least 100 of these possessions. It gets far more impressive when you break it down beyond the surface level.
Ayton saw his overall production dragged down by flash cuts. For reference, he had 36.8% of his overall cutting possessions come in the form of flash cuts, and he produced only 0.857 points per possession. He had to be used as a flash cutter with the Wildcats mostly because the NCAA game is far more compact and as a result of the use of zone defensive schemes.
Where Ayton could genuinely find success is on basket cuts and that is an area that could be maximized by having a proficient passing point guard. Ayton had an output of 1.694 points per possession on basket cuts and that ranked 4th in the NCAA out of the 229 players with at least 50 of these possessions.
The cuts resembled the NCAA game and not the NBA game, but his potential in this area is high regardless. He has the potential to be a strong play finisher as a basket roamer and when cutting from space. The best way for him to tap into that potential will be to have players around him that can collapse the defense and fire off passes to him to get favorable finishes.
DeAndre Ayton found tremendous success as a basket cutter at Arizona. He produced 1.694 PPP in these sequences and that ranked 4th in the NCAA out of the 229 players with at least 50 possessions. pic.twitter.com/A5OWEYKpoO
— Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) July 22, 2018
The basket cutting opportunities for Ayton could go beyond just simple drive-and-dish sequences within the flow of the game. They should take notes from how the Indiana Pacers would use Myles Turner as a screener for Paul George and that would create multiple favorable dimensions for both players, especially basket cuts for Turner. The Suns could do this with Devin Booker and Ayton because of the gravity that Booker commands.
I mentioned this particular sequence because it would be beneficial for the Suns to have a proficient passing point guard to deliver passes to Booker in stride when he comes around the screen. Also, they could add a layer where Booker doesn’t even have to receive the ball for Ayton to get a shot because a talented passer could fire off a lob pass to Ayton depending on the commitment patterns of the two defenders directly engaged in the sequence.
Not having the gravity and passing that Paul George provided in off-screen sequences is something that negatively impacted Myles Turner this season. It was helpful to have this layer of the team’s offense for Myles because he is effective as a basket cutter. pic.twitter.com/ajniLX9wCO
— Grant Afseth Videos (@GrantAfsethVids) July 14, 2018
To recruit talented free agents next summer, Ayton will need to show that he can become a highly productive player. The best way for Phoenix to put him in a position to do that would be to provide him with a point guard that can effectively create shots for him. It will be up to him to get results in the post, in isolation, and on the offensive glass, but having a few layers that come within the flow of the game with the help of teammates is essential.
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