BREAKING NEWS:National Media Shows Love for Deandre Ayton……………

Deandre Ayton, the starting center for the Portland Trail Blazers, has carried with him an unfavorable reputation with the media from his late days with the Phoenix Suns, whether fair or unfair. The media criticized Ayton for his motor and character in Phoenix. This season began with a barrage of critical early reviews about ineffective play, followed by the national outcry over a snow day, a controversial criticism from Jason Quick of The Athletic that characterized Ayton’s early tenure in Portland by “tardiness and tantrums,” and a widespread joke about air mattresses.

After a long introduction, I would like to share with you a positive national media review of Ayton’s most recent play, provided by Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine.

Ayton’s play on both ends was highly praised by Devine in a recent essay that highlighted good developments on terrible teams. Devine wrote that Ayton’s performance since returning from injury in late January has appeared lot closer to the former No. 1 overall pick’s outstanding potential.

However, Ayton has picked up his game once more after missing 15 games due to a prolonged episode of right knee soreness (well, most of them were related to the knee, anyhow), averaging over 20 points and 12 rebounds per game on 63% shooting.

Even with his physical tools, he’s still not approaching the rim nearly as much as you would have liked; Cleaning the Glass reports that more than 60% of his shots have come from outside the restricted area. Though he has been putting in engine-room labor on the other end, he is enjoying the interior looks he does get and has been scorching from the midrange. His rebounding, steal, and block rates would be the highest since 2021, when he was a key player in the Suns’ run to the Finals.

Even while Ayton has never been portrayed as a paint-patrolling, vicious Rudy Gobert, he has brought part of that monstrousness within. According to Second Spectrum’s tracking, during the last two months, opponents of the Blazers have shot 56.1% at the rim when Ayton is defending. This places Ayton 20th out of 129 players who have stopped at least three close attempts per game during that time.

Devine, who once again produced receipts to support his claims, claimed that Ayton had assisted in pulling Portland’s youth basketball players out of the depths and onto a more competitive playing field.

A healthier and more involved Ayton, who can convert roughly 20% to 25% of Portland’s possessions into effective offense, dunk opponents’ big men in the paint, and dominate and control the defensive glass, offers a more reliable benchmark for gauging progress. The lineups for Simons-Henderson that have generally been reprehensible? With Ayton on the floor, they almost tie the score. A Blazers defense that this season is 24th in terms of points allowed per possession? Ayton’s play has been league-average overall, but when he has played with the explosive wings of Camara and Matisse Thybulle, it has been exceptional.

Devine concluded by citing an analysis by Blazer’s Edge Managing Editor Dave Deckard, who stated that Ayton’s most recent play has the potential to either add to the already perplexing season or offer much-needed answers. All of it hinges on Ayton’s ability to maintain it.

Ayton will simply cause further confusion if what we’re seeing from him now doesn’t hold true—if, as Dave Deckard of Blazersedge believes, this is more of a context-dependent aberration than a new normal. However, based on what we’ve seen over the last few months, Blazers brass may be able to gain a better understanding of what they already have, what they still need, and what they might be willing to give up in order to obtain it.