The Phoenix Suns' outlook was overshadowed by the injury of core big player Devin Booker, combined with an equaliser by the Pelicans on aggregate and losing home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Fortunately, since Chris Paul joined, the Sun seems to have really transformed, chris Paul can not only stabilize the game at key moments, but also the young players in the team have grown more with his help.
To be at the top of the league in the regular season, the Suns rely on more than just Devon Booker alone, so the latter's absence will certainly have a big impact, but the Suns will not completely collapse, because the overall depth of the team is also very good. In the third game of the series against the Pelicans, the Suns scored in double figures with five players, and they once again led in the series and regained home advantage. Among them, DeAndre Ayton, who was also a starting center for the Suns, showed his dominance, cutting a double-double of 28 points and 17 rebounds and delivering three steals. In this game, DeAndre Ayton's rebounds, steals and +18 plus-minus were all the highest of any player on both teams. In addition, he is tied with Chris Paul and is the sun's two highest scoring players in the team.
As the 2018 winner, DeAndre Ayton's starting point is obviously very high. To know that at the time of the draft, DeAndre Ayton's position was quite stable, almost a unique slot, and everyone knew that no matter who got the title, they would take DeAndre Ayton as the first choice, which showed how much he was worth looking forward to at that time. To know that the overall quality of the 2018 draft is very high, when the players selected behind DeAndre Ayton include Luka Doncic and Trae Young, who have also become All-Stars, which can better illustrate deAndre Ayton's talent and potential at that time.
So the Suns, like many in the beginning, simply regardEdre Ayton and Devin Booker as the most powerful inside and outside cores since Shack O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and some even call these two players OK 2.0 combinations. From the data point of view, after DeAndre Ayton entered the league, he can get the data of averaging two double-doubles per game every season, which can show that he is definitely not a parallel cargo. It's just that because the outside world was too high at the beginning, coupled with the fact that he was born in the first place, everyone's requirements for DeAndre Ayton were naturally more stringent and harsh.
Before the start of the season, the Suns management and DeAndre Ayton could not reach an agreement in the contract renewal negotiations, and this season, DeAndre Ayton averaged 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, but he was still criticized, especially during the time when DeAndre Ayton was on the sidelines, and the Suns' other interior lines like Bismarck Biyombo, Javier McGee, including Jaylen Smith, who has been sent away, have performed quite well. Therefore, everyone's misunderstanding of DeAndre Ayton is even deeper, thinking that the sun does not make much difference with him or not, anyway, there is Chris Paul and Devin Booker feeding the ball, eating bread under the basket this kind of work can be done by anyone.
But this kind of rhetoric is obviously a bit extreme, and the reason why DeAndre Ayton was able to become a champion in the first place, and after entering the league, he can also hand over good statistics, if he only relies on the defender to feed the ball and eat the cake under the basket, it is obviously impossible. In fact, DeAndre Ayton is a bit like a weakened version of Carl Anthony Downs, whose offensive means are quite rich, not to mention that DeAndre Ayton's performance on the defensive end is far better than Carl Anthony Downs, who was his template. If nothing else, the reason why the Sun soared last season, from the past fish belly unit to the passer, all the way to the finals, in addition to the excellent performance of the backcourt Twins and good luck, but also inseparable from the contribution of DeAndre Ayton.
At the end of the three playoff games, DeAndre Ayton seemed to be on a roller coaster, the first game of the Sun easily passed the game to beat the Pelicans, DeAndre Ayton shot 10 of 15, with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks. But in the second game of the series, DeAndre Ayton was more depressed, he only had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and in the case of Devin Booker's injury, DeAndre Ayton should have taken more responsibility, but unfortunately he once again disappointed everyone. Fortunately, this game DeAndre Ayton finally played his own inside advantage, which is undoubtedly good news for the Suns, while Devon Booker can recuperate with peace of mind, if DeAndre Ayton can gain more confidence, the Suns will be like a tiger.
After a regrettable loss last season, the entire Suns team wants to make up for such regrets. For DeAndre Ayton, if he can play a good performance to help the Suns achieve good results, and even win the first championship trophy in the history of the team, DeAndre Ayton's market will continue to improve, at that time the Suns' willingness to leave him will be more determined, and the big contract will naturally be captured.