Phoenix Suns: 5 goals for Deandre Ayton in 2018-19

5. Crash the offensive boards

This goal may seem a bit vague, but for anyone who watched Ayton in NBA Summer League, it was fairly obvious his greatest skill on the offensive end at this stage is using his physical advantage to convert easy looks near the basket. The most effective way he did so in Summer League — and throughout college as well — was crashing the offensive glass for easy put-backs.

That kind of focus is perfectly tailored to a guy like Ayton, who has the size, strength and athleticism to corral rebounds and muscle his way back up among the trees. With Phoenix adding more perimeter shooters like Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Mikal Bridges alongside Devin Booker, the second chance opportunities will be there off long range misses.

In his lone season at Arizona, 3.4 of Ayton’s 11.6 rebounds per game came on the offensive end. For reference, the reigning NBA leader in rebounds, Andre Drummond, averaged 3.4 offensive rebounds per game in college as well (albeit in five fewer minutes per game). If Ayton had put up that figure in the NBA last year, he would’ve ranked fifth in the league in that category.

This is one area where Ayton can be aggressive, even against bigger NBA bodies. His shooting range doesn’t extend to 3-point territory yet and the Suns had problems feeding him the ball on the block — a problem that could persist until a more suitable starting point guard is found on the trade market. For year one, gobbling up offensive boards for easy put-backs should be an effective way to boost his numbers and his impact.