DeAndre Ayton

Arizona Wildcats

Bio

Name: DeAndre Ayton

Born: July 23, 1998

Height: 7’0”

Weight: 243 lbs

Wingspan: 7’5.5‘‘

Position: Big

Team: Arizona Wildcats

Overview

Strengths/Weaknesses | Scouting-Log | Comps | Videos | Important Games | Articles | Stats | Trivia | Twitter

Scouting Log

Basketball is a global game now. Cameroon (Embiid), Dominican Republic (Towns) or Haiti (Labissiere) – the origin of the top bigman prospects in CBB – seems to become more and more international. This year won’t be an exception with Bahamas native DeAndre Ayton. We will have to see if the talented big man can follow in the footsteps of his prominent predecessors.

Preseason

DeAndre Ayton is a real physical phenomenon among his peers. As a seven-footer with an above average wingspan, he always looks like a man among boys on the court. His frame is solid, as well. But given his age – he is 19 already – his bulk doesn’t seem to be quite as impressive anymore. Ayton would have problems battling heavier NBA players in the paint. On the other hand, his lack of muscle mass seems to have more upside anyway since less mass means better footspeed in switching situations.

Ayton’s base athleticism is impressive. Running up and down the court, he displays great mobility and speed for a big man of his size and his coordination seems to be above average. His bounce is a real asset, recently becoming a twitter star for posting an unofficial vertical of 44 inches. This skills produces thunderous in-game dunks, at times. Ayton’s quick second jump is one of his deceptive skills, which helps him out a great deal in terms of rebounding; especially combined with his timing skills.

Offense

Ayton brings a lot to the table offensively. If he develops all of his base skills, he will be a great fit for the modern NBA game since he combines mobility and rim running ability with a bit of shooting range.

In transition, he has no problems running the floor. He even beats wings down the court sometimes. In the half court, his sheer size and his solid hand make him an interesting pick and roll threat that provides some vertical spacing.

In the various HS all-star games, Ayton showed excellent instincts on the offensive glass.

Facing up, Ayton won’t break down the opposing defense with crazy dribbling, but he is able to put the ball on the floor a little bit to create some space for himself. Interestingly, he is comfortable finishing with either hand at the rim.

His shot looks promising given that he is a true seven-footer, posing a real threat from downtown at Adidas Nations. However, he wasn’t quite as accurate from three-point range in the other events he participated in, going 0-4, despite his fairly clean technique. Ayton will have a chance to provide some spacing in the future with his jumper once he adds some consistency to his shot.

Defense

It is hard to judge his defensive ability at the moment. Theoretically, he has all the potential in the world to become at least a solid rim protector with his set of athletic tools. He even should be able to do well in pick and roll situations due to his footspeed and agility. However, the lack of quality film makes it hard to predict anything before watching him in college when facing adequate competition.

At a first glance, he seems to be lacking some defensive basketball IQ and has a motor problem. Especially after unsuccessful offensive possession, he tends to take off plays on the defensive end. This tendency is a bad habit he needs to drop as soon as possible. However, Sean Miller might be the perfect coach to help him do exactly that.

Comp

When you look at the hype that surrounded Ayton as a HS prospect, you could assume that he could be a Karl Anthony Towns clone. However, his inconsistent shot could turn him into moreof a Skal Labissiere.  At the moment, his upside mainly is in his great tools, mobility and rebounding, which would make him a bigger version of Tristan Thompson without even improving or changing anything. But he obviously has the potential to be so much more given his shooting and defensive prowess.

Videos

Playlist

Important Games

(possible) Nov. 24 vs. Villanova (@Atlantis) and bigman Omari Spellman 

Dec. 02 @UNLV and bigman Brandon McCoy

Dec. 05 vs. Texas A&M and bigman Robert Williams

Dec. 09 vs. Alabama and bigman Daniel Giddens

Dec. 21 vs. UCON and bigman Josh Carlton

Conference: Cal (Marcus Lee), Oregon State (Drew Eubanks), Stanford (Reid Travis), UCLA (Jalen Hill, Thomas Welsh), USC (Chimezie Metu, Bennie Boatwright)

Articles

Stats

High school:

USA TODAY’s All-USA First Team 2016, 2017

All-Star Events:

McDonald’s All-American 2017: 8 P, 11 R, 3 S in 20 min

Jordan Classics 2017: 19 P, 8 Rs in 18 min

Nike Hoop Summit: 8 P, 7 Rs in 27 min

Adidas Nation (Team Harden) Gold medal:

17.4 PPG (60 FG%, 42.9 3P%, 82.4 FT%), 11 RPG at 1.4 ToPG 

Trivia

Twitter

@RealDeandreAy