The Portland Trail Blazers have a brand new starting center for the first time in six and a half years. Deandre Ayton is an intriguing talent who, for whatever reason, exhausted his race with the Phoenix Suns five years after being taken with first overall pick. Ayton’s reported frustration and issues in Phoenix were never really revealed. Regardless of whether it was former coach Monty Williams or former teammate Chris Paul, Ayton was ready for a new setting.
Said baggage isn’t the only thing Ayton brings with him to Oregon. The $102 million owed to him over the next three years is no small sum for the 25-year-old.