NBA: Embiid warns Ayton: “He will be beaten up”

In an interview with ESPN, Joel Embiid spoke about Rookie Deandre Ayton. The Philadelphia 76ers Center warned the No.1 pick against its NBA debut.

“He’s going to get beaten up,” Embiid made it clear. Ayton was repeatedly compared to Embiid in the run-up to the 2018 draft, which the Cameroonian obviously did not like.

“He’ll be a good player. But if you talk about him being like Joel Embiid… I play both ends of the court,” said the 24-year-old. “I think I’m a good offensive player and a good defensive player.”

Ayton is far from that far in his development. “I’ve seen him play and he has a lot of work ahead of him,” Embiid said, concluding with a few words of praise to Ayton: “He has a lot of potential, he’s going to be really good.”