On June 22nd the NBA-Draft takes place in Brooklyn (live from 1 am on DAZN). On this occasion, SPOX is illuminating the most promising prospects. Finally, the best bigs of the class will be examined in detail. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III or Mo Bamba?
Position: Power Forward, Center / College: Arizona
Age: 19.9 / Height: 2.16 m / Wing Span: 2.27 m / Weight: 113 kilos
Ideally a guy like: Patrick Ewing, DeMarcus cousins
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
If you look at the stats and the pure tools, you can only come to a single forecast: Deandre Ayton is the clear No.1 pick with the potential to become one of the best Bigs of all time. At just 19, he has a body like a Greek god, blessed with a lot of touch and the athleticism of a freak.
Ayton can score from any spot on the field, with his soft hands he can safely close the basket, even with the weaker left hand. It can be used as a Rollman or from the Pick’n’Pop as well as from the middle distance or from the perimeter. With its enormous jumping power it is always a danger for Loban games.
Defensively he has the ability to stand up to strong opponents, influences tons of throws with his enormous wingspan and, if he is focused, can also hold smaller opponents somewhat in front of him at the perimeter.
But that’s the keyword: “When he’s focused. Too often he suffers from misfires or Ayton does not appear present with his head. It can be a mental problem or the instincts are not as pronounced as they should be. In Pick’n’Roll he loses his opponent too often, as Help Defender Ayton regularly misses the chance to make the throw harder, partly because he doesn’t even know where the ball is.
Ayton also makes some bad decisions in the attack. Above all, the former Wildcats player tends to fall too much in love with his jumper and not chase the easy points on the ring with his strength. The jump shot looks very good mechanically, but the throw curve is a bit flat, which has so far not been important on all levels due to its economies of scale.
And another essential question has not yet been answered: What position will Ayton be in? He sees himself as a foursome, it was no coincidence that he mostly played in Arizona next to Dusan Ristic, a real five-man. In a modern NBA, where there was often not even room for a seven footer in the playoffs, this is hardly imaginable.
Is Ayton so good that he can stand his ground in the pace and space era with lots of switching and mismatch hunting and is not a minus for his team? If the Phoenix Suns answer’Yes’ to this question, there is no doubt that Ayton’s name will be called first in the draft.
Forecast: Top-2-Pick
Possible teams: Suns, Kings
Page 1: Deandre Ayton (Arizona)
Page 2: Marvin Bagley III (Duke)
Page 3: Jaren Jackson Jr. (Michigan State)
Page 4: Mohamed Bamba (Texas)
Page 5: Wendall Carter Jr. (Duke)