NBA: Biggest X-factor for all 30 teams in the 2019-20 season

Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton

Few are enamored with the prospects of watching their starting center operate out of the low post, but that’s exactly what Deandre Ayton did during his rookie season. It didn’t matter that he averaged 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds a game.

Most Phoenix Suns fans are more concerned with his ability to modernize his prehistoric style of play.

Barely old enough to purchase alcohol, Ayton’s already got an NBA-body at 7’1” and approximately 250 pounds. Having shot 73.3 percent within three feet of the rim, the All-Rookie First-Team member is set to be a force for years to come down low.

Inside dominance used to be enough for seven-footers, but the game has changed. Ayton can rack up the nightly double-doubles without so much as an elbow jumper.

Come playoff time, however, those limitations expose some of the best centers who can’t make defenses pay when challenged on the perimeter.

People shouldn’t expect Ayton to be a finished product, but he attempted only four 3-pointers last season, a figure far too small to truly get comfortable out there.

On top of his archaic play style, Ayton is constantly getting burned while trying to switch pick-and-rolls with an inability to protect the rim, aspects that are near prerequisites for the modern man in the middle.

Ayton may have the expectations that come with being a No. 1 overall pick, but the pressure more so stems from who was selected after him. Plenty analysts and fans were begging Phoenix to select Luka Doncic, a ballhandling wizard who could impact the game in a far greater capacity.

Despite sitting in the lottery for nearly a decade, the Suns don’t have the best track record on draft night. They chose Ayton to help revitalize the franchise next to Devin Booker, a current star in the making.

If nothing more, the hometown kid has to show something to calm the nerves of those still hesitant on his long-term prospect.