Agreed. I totally get the frustration of the other fanbases though. One day its 20 and 15, the next 2 and 3. Drove Monty Williams off the side of a cliff. lol. He's been solid for us overall though and a definite improvement.
having hayes really take another step forward and be a very solid backup has helped. between the two of them, we should be able to find decent play at the 5 most nights.
There are definitely motor and mentality issues with Ayton, but part of it is a general team problem too. Ayton is a play finisher, not a creator. He gets his shots out of P&R, whether rolling to the rim or taking advantage of switches. He also gets the put backs around the rim and little hook shots when he gets position on his man. His shots don't really come from post-ups or him creating against set defenses. His stats remind me of those NFL stats where a team is like 9-1 when their RB gets X number of carries. That doesn't mean you force feed that guy the ball. It means that his stats are a symptom of the offense functioning properly. When Luka and our other ball-handlers are sharp and not settling for contested jumpers, and our role players are making enough shots to keep the defense honest, the opportunities for Ayton are there and he converts a lot of them. But if the offense bogs down and/or an opponent with the right personnel goes switch-heavy, Ayton doesn't get as many opportunities and starts to check out. Having Austin back will help - he has the best P&R chemistry with Ayton and the offense functions better with him generally.
There's a stat going around where we win almost every game when Ayton has 15+ points We need to motivate him and put him in places to succeed with our 3 floor generals. We should maximize that offensive weapon as much as possible to mitigate the inconsistent shooting As for moving forward, I'm pretty sure we sign to an amount slightly above the MLE, depending on how much Indiana can pressure us. But I'm not in the camp of having him as the default 5 in the mid-long term. He's fine for now and our best option to focus our purchasing power in other glaring needs, but I'd be on the look for upgrades, notably in motor and defense. Luka is already very nonchalant in his style and very to drive through so I'd rather have some strong dude on the back that also brings the energy up for the team. Gafford would be nice, I see why he worked so well with Luka
i'll wait until a full season and playoffs before i decide whether i want to outbid indiana, tbh. could end up being a DFS situation where it looks bad because a guy opted out and then we sign a laravia center at half the cost.
welp, he is exactly who we thought he was you know you're f***ed when you can't even find chemistry with luka and lebron
It’s weird because he had great chemistry with Reaves, but it just isn’t there with Luka. He’s definitely not our big going forward, he’s not the right type for Luka, he has to have a true lob threat and Ayton isn’t that.
Wow. This is an unbelievably bad night. Might be the one that makes everyone okay with us trading him.
I just cannot wrap my brain around him not just dunking the ball. Especially once he realized he was blowing lay ups.
Hate to say it but, I was one of loudest upset fans here when we signed him. He has no heart. No Fire. Time to return to the islands, my guy.
