TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[SleepingHero]

Did you opinion sway at all the last time we watched him play us? Also, what is this gigantic hole? Rebounding? He’d definitely help there but that skill set can be had for a much cheaper price and is in my opinion the least important aspect in todays game. Would his defense in our switching/blitzing scheme be better than Powell or Maxi?

No. I'm not vying after Ayton because I think he's going to be this savior on offense. It's his defense that I'm lusting for. That 20-20 performance where he shit the bed was coming back from injury. But again. I think Ayton's game (low usage, high efficiency low post scorer+good rebounding and defense), is the ideal archetype you want around Luka. He's a switchable beast. He also has helped PHX win playoff series before (NOP, and basically the entire finals run). 


I don't think a highly switchable center that has the ability to score 20 if hot is available nor can be had for a cheap price. I do believe his defense would be much better than Powell, and almost on par with Maxi at his best. That's how good of a defender Ayton has shown to be (*When motivated).

Obviously he isn't perfect. He does leave a lot to be desired offensively and he's being paid like a star. He has been called out for not being consistently motivated. All fair points. It still doesn't take away that his game fits like a glove around two heliocentric creators. 

Not being an asshole I promise, you’ve just been on this hill since well before we watched him not even be able to take advantage of dorian at center so I’m genuinely curious as to your stance on this.

I rarely, if ever, think someone is being an asshole on purpose here. I have thick skin trust me. I remember dfan1998 chewing me a new asshole over JB. And I'm eating crow on it right now. 

You also were very upset about Kyrie and made comments about how he gets into it with teammates and while he’s certainly messed up relationships with coaches and front office, his teammates love him and I would argue there’s actually more evidence that Ayton rubs teammates the wrong way than Kyrie. Kyrie is the bigger non basketball issue for sure but just saying that if you’re worried about how teammates get along, shouldn’t some of Aytons childish outbursts concern you as well?

Regarding Kyrie. I wasn't upset with how he conducted himself with his teammates specifically, but more how he's a nightmare off the court. He always finds ways to create drama and take away from the team. He goes out of his way to sit out games. I never once thought that Kyrie rubbed his teammates the wrong way though. In fact I've since posted a bunch of articles showing how beloved Kyrie is with his former teammates, and how most of his gripes came between FO clashes. 


I'm not super familiar with Ayton having childish outbursts. I know he's wanted a larger role in PHX. While he wouldn't get that here, I do think Luka would be able to set him up better than CP3 today just because of how regressed CP3 is now.