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

3. Defend the rim

Defense is going to be the difference between Deandre Ayton’s floor as an empty numbers guy and his ceiling as a two-way superstar. Though Ariza and Bridges were brought in to help Josh Jackson improve the NBA’s worst defense last year, Booker and Anderson remain notorious sieves on that end. How a seven-foot rookie with defensive question marks fits into that equation will play a large role in how successful his first year goes.

Ayton largely played out of position at Arizona and was forced to guard 4s, but in the NBA, where exploiting mismatches reigns supreme, it won’t be long before he finds himself switched onto shifty guards on the perimeter looking to take him off the dribble. It’ll be years until the Suns rookie is even passable on that front, though he has the lateral quickness and length to do so if he really commits to that side of the ball.

In his rookie season, he’s not going to be a good or versatile defender, so he and Igor Kokoskov should just keep it simple by establishing a comfort zone in the paint and focusing on protecting the rim. That’s a foundation the team can build on, even if he gets exploited when switched onto the perimeter.

Contrary to what his 1.9 blocks per game in college indicate, Ayton is not an adept rim protector. His block and steal rates were bewilderingly low for a player with his size, speed and length, which could’ve been a matter of coaching, lack of focus, lack of effort, poor defensive instincts or some combination of the bunch.

After Ayton averaged just 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in Summer League, it was clear he still needs some grooming on that end of the floor. However, if he can post similar averages as a rookie and slightly up those block numbers, the Suns will be more than happy with that. The important thing is showing he can deter opponents when they get in the lane without fouling, block shots on the ball or from the weak-side, and close out possessions with a rebound.