agree entirely and apparently his numbers finishing at the rim are alarming. he shot 43% on two pointers overall. the athletic guy's argument is that jabari won't be played off the floor in the playoffs because he's a wing who can shoot and guard which makes sense except if you're not really that good how much does it matter if you're on the floor. wiggins isn't being played off the floor either but he also wasn't considered a useful player until he ended up on a team where he was the fourth option on offense
when ppl talk about chet i almost wonder if they look at his shot, like they just take for granted that he's a good shooter and we've seen bigs who can shoot and it just is what it is. but i feel like at that height the only guys i can think of who have better looking shots are KD and dirk. everything about his shot is natural and easy. i just don't see how he fails, he's too good of a shooter, he's guaranteed 40%+ from three, he can also dribble and move, if he ever develops a post or mid range game a la dirk he's gonna break defenses. jabari smith is very easy to understand but he also just might be a completely average player. i don't see how chet is worse than myles turner and his ceiling is one of the best big men to ever play
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 19:17 (one year ago) link
yeah that wont get played off the floor line is wild i hope the 1st pick wont get played off the floor you prob didnt take the right guy if he does
― lag∞n, Monday, 16 May 2022 19:45 (one year ago) link
so ayton wants a max contract this offseason and phoenix doesn't want to keep him if it means they pay him at max. the questions I have for the ILH collective are: Will any team want ayton on their team as a max contract? And if ayton gets an offer sheet somewhere at or near to the max, will phoenix match it?
I mean, it's not a Ben Simmons level soap opera, but it's a storyline.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 16 May 2022 21:40 (one year ago) link
there's def teams that would give him the max. it's the rookie max and for any team signing him as a FA it's only 4 years, it's pretty low risk esp if you aren't in a cap crunch which the suns are.
as for matching, i bet they'd try and sign and trade him. maybe they'd match, but teams can also do all sorts of poison pill things or whatever. it doesn't seem like things are headed towards a longterm relationship there
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 21:55 (one year ago) link
ayton is eligible for a contract somewhere between ~32-34m a year depending on if he signs with the suns or goes somewhere else, kinda think no ones going to give him nearly that much idk there are some dumb teams tho
― lag∞n, Monday, 16 May 2022 21:56 (one year ago) link
i think desperate teams in far flung markets would do it -- detroit, charlotte, apparently indiana was calling them at the deadline. portland maybe. the knicks? atlanta?
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 21:59 (one year ago) link
he's young and doesn't have a concerning injury history for a big. i think he'd be attractive to teams hoping to just make the playoffs for a few years and who are not worried about whether ayton can be a key player on a championship team
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 22:02 (one year ago) link
i didn't know about this until it was mentioned by kevin arnovitz on zach lowe's podcast today, but this long article on ESPN about how much de'andre ayton loves video games was, um, illuminating
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33898958/deandre-ayton-phoenix-suns-video-games
It's clear watching Ayton play NBA 2K on the big screen that he's a dedicated gamer. He says that family comes first for him -- as the father of a 1-year-old, Ayton always makes time for his son, Deandre Jr., and girlfriend, Anissa Evans. But then, every day, he'll settle down for several hours -- at least four or five -- to play NBA 2K. This is how Ayton reached Legend status, an achievement that occurs by reaching Level 40 for four seasons in the game. Ayton believes he's the only NBA player to become a Legend.
"I don't know how I did it this year because I got a child, but I did it," Ayton says.
Ayton typically wakes up around 6 a.m. after only getting about two hours of sleep. There's time for a quick round of gaming after eating breakfast, then he's off to practice. Then it's back home to finish talking trash and practicing moves on the virtual court. On game days, Ayton is focused, but that schedule still includes time for video games.
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 22:05 (one year ago) link
i suspect when the suns let ESPN do this story they might not have had ayton's best interests at heart...
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 22:09 (one year ago) link
portland maybe.
not likely. i think pdx will do whatever it can to retain nurkic, but they may need to overpay him to do it. he's a better fit than ayton anyway.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 16 May 2022 22:45 (one year ago) link
i … could not disagree more but to each his own, though I don’t think either player is a real answer
― Clay, Monday, 16 May 2022 22:51 (one year ago) link
nurk won't put the blazers back into the (super-max + max) bind they were in with lillard & cj, but ayton would, while not delivering enough value. a big part of nurk's 'better fit' for me is that he can hold down the middle but not break the bank. after the tear down the blazers need to sign some solid pieces to rebuild with. ayton ain't the answer.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 16 May 2022 23:01 (one year ago) link
with Portland’s current roster I’m not sure what the question even is
― Clay, Monday, 16 May 2022 23:05 (one year ago) link
it's not one question, but at least a dozen.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 16 May 2022 23:14 (one year ago) link
if i was the blazers, i would simply win the draft lottery and then draft chet holmgren
― ciderpress, Monday, 16 May 2022 23:26 (one year ago) link
they might be the most mysterious team in the league right now. no idea what their goals are, what style of basketball they wanna play, how they intend on getting better, who is even on their team. it sounds like dame is sticking around in which case they need to put a real team around him in one offseason
― J0rdan S., Monday, 16 May 2022 23:26 (one year ago) link
my lord that ayton gaming story is something
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 00:25 (one year ago) link
― J0rdan S., Monday, May 16, 2022 6:09 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
this makes sense and also sucks
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 00:34 (one year ago) link
It wasn't just the Suns. his agent prob knew in advance, too.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 00:59 (one year ago) link
― call all destroyer, Monday, May 16, 2022 8:25 PM (fifty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
lmao that shit is wild why doesnt he sleep sleep is important
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 01:30 (one year ago) link
"I don't know how I did it this year because I got a child, but I did it," Ayton says, as his kid stares at him blankly, his mouth agape, his eyes wide
― Heez, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 01:36 (one year ago) link
to be fair one year olds sleep a lot, unlike deandre ayton
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 01:44 (one year ago) link
― J0rdan S., Monday, May 16, 2022 6:02 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
i just listened to this pod and for someone as measured as arnovitz to refer repeatedly to ayton's "comportment" being a concern within the suns.....yeah there's something there.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 17:37 (one year ago) link
did he say what the comportment problems were particularly
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 17:59 (one year ago) link
nah. he did a big sarver piece a while back so i would assume he has good suns sources (and is protective of them)
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:04 (one year ago) link
I’m charting every single bucket Luka scored in the series. Of the 56 (out of 81 total) I’ve done so far, 18 of Luka’s buckets have come from getting Ayton on him out of the PnR. https://t.co/FAT4Gog4hw— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 17, 2022
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:06 (one year ago) link
― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 17, 2022 1:59 PM (eighteen minutes ago)
the implication seemed to be that he doesn't take basketball seriously enough. arnovitz was like "you'd never see an article about bam playing video games so much that he only sleeps 2 hours per night." i'm sure the suns are aware of that as well which is what makes me think they weren't too worried about that info coming out
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:21 (one year ago) link
lmao he likes the nba video game more than being in the nba
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link
No dopamine-drip of progression and leveling up IRL.
― Santa Barbarous (Leee), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:32 (one year ago) link
suns shd give him badges for various accomplishments, got 8 hours of sleep badge, didnt get posted up by guy half a foot shorter than me badge
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:35 (one year ago) link
― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 17, 2022 2:31 PM (eight minutes ago)
it is a bit ridiculous that there's a whole story on the number 1 overall pick that hinges on him working hard enough to achieve "Legend" status............ in NBA 2K
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 17 May 2022 18:40 (one year ago) link
cant believe ayton agreed to a be taken down like that, he must have zero street sense. dude let the photographer take a pic of him holding a controller like a baby lmaooooo
https://a2.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2022%2F0412%2Fr998618_1999x3000cc.jpg&w=570&format=jpg
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 19:14 (one year ago) link
i’ve had enough of the 2k shaming itt, if bingeing 2k until you get a headache is wrong i don’t want to be right
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 19:18 (one year ago) link
Tracer, if you are also a #1 overall nba pick then you should feel shame imo, sorry that’s how I feel.
― gonna make you sweat the technique, gonna make you groove is in the heart (PBKR), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 19:49 (one year ago) link
you should just keep it to yourself is the thing. and def not let it be released right around when you get mopped up by the guy you were picked ahead of
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:11 (one year ago) link
i definitely think everyone should be sleeping more than 2 hours per night especially nba players
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:12 (one year ago) link
especially 7 footers
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:14 (one year ago) link
Yeah, they just got to figure out how to gamify basketball.
― Santa Barbarous (Leee), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:39 (one year ago) link
i guess the whole scoring system with putting the ball through the hoop ring isnt enough of a game for him
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:41 (one year ago) link
Real life game stats could be applied to his Gamerscore
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:48 (one year ago) link
*double the gamerscore stats for real life stats
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:52 (one year ago) link
negative points for layups, quadruple for dunks
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 20:54 (one year ago) link
I cannot imagine intentionally getting 2 hours of sleep a night. Probably why I never had kids.
― Blackhawk Down 2: Electric Boogaloo (PBKR), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 21:12 (one year ago) link
i def got more than that as a new parent!
― Spottie, Tuesday, 17 May 2022 21:17 (one year ago) link
I have insomnia once in a while and two hours two nights in a row leaves me feeling hungover/stupid like I could kill myself accidentally on purpose.
― Blackhawk Down 2: Electric Boogaloo (PBKR), Tuesday, 17 May 2022 21:27 (one year ago) link
it's really crazy I just realized that the NBA Draft Lottery is tonight, usually I've been obsessing about it for a month
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 18 May 2022 00:04 (one year ago) link
yeah i tuned in for the game and realized its not for half an hour becasue of this
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 00:04 (one year ago) link
im watching it baby who will get the #1 pick one of the teams who will get the #2 pick also a team
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 00:05 (one year ago) link
nuggets will win the nba draft lottery
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 18 May 2022 00:06 (one year ago) link