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

4. Average at least 15 and 8

At the end of the day, one of the biggest justifications for the Suns drafting Ayton over Doncic is, no matter if he’s a good defender or not, he’ll be a regular 20-and-10 guy in his sleep for the majority of his career. Whether those numbers are impactful or empty will become clear in time, but because of his sheer size, athleticism and great touch, he’s a walking double-double.

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However, the transition from playing 30-some college games to slogging through 82 regular season NBA games is a brutal one. The rookie wall is very real, and unlike college, Ayton will be facing bigger, stronger, faster and smarter athletes on a nightly basis. His physical advantage will no longer be enough to tally monster numbers on either end of the floor.

That’s why setting the bar at 15 points and eight rebounds per game for his rookie year seems reasonable. Per Basketball-Reference, only 61 NBA rookies have ever reached that threshold, and the only ones to do so in the last decade are Blake Griffin, Karl-Anthony Towns and Ben Simmons.

Ayton’s body is physically ready for the pros. This is a guy who posted 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game on 61.2 percent shooting at Arizona, after all. Even in Las Vegas, with the Suns struggling to get him good looks and the big man looking less than dominant, he still posted 14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game on 59.5 percent shooting.

Ayton should be giving the starting job from day one, giving him plenty of opportunities for big minutes. He may not suit up for all 82 games, but if he can post double-doubles here or there and average at least 15 and eight a night, he’ll be off to a rip-roaring start that only confirms he’s going to be a nightly double-double once he gets more comfortable in the pros.