2. Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
Deandre Ayton is the most physically prepared rookie to enter the NBA in quite a long time. At 7’1″ and 250 pounds, he’s built like a modern-day David Robinson, and on a Phoenix Suns team lacking a go-to scorer outside of Devin Booker (who will enter the season injured), Ayton will have the chance to make a legitimate impact from day one.
New head coach Igor Kokoskov should be able to use his stretch-5 abilities well, even if his range probably doesn’t extend to 3-point territory just yet. Thanks to his size, strength and athleticism, Ayton will put away a ton of easy looks around the basket off of post-ups, rim-running and offensive put-backs. He’s a beast on the board and should put up the raw numbers required from a ROY candidate.
His defense needs some work, but he has the length and quickness to improve on that end with the right coaching. The Suns might be so bad they take Ayton out of the running, but if they show marginal improvement, the No. 1 pick in the draft has as good a chance as anyone to win Rookie of the Year.
After all, this walking double-double threat posted 14.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals on 59.5 percent shooting in Summer League to earn Second Team honors … despite never really looking dominant during his time there.