If you read the media narratives surrounding Portland Trail Blazers starting center Deandre Ayton, you’ll see the same commentary again and again: Ayton is painted as a talented NBA center but criticized for never reaching the great potential of his athletic gifts.
Fair or unfair, that’s the reality of expectations when you enter the NBA as a No. 1 overall pick and still command max money upwards of $30 million per year.
In HoopsHype’s preseason rankings of the top 30 centers in the NBA, writer Frank Urbina placed Ayton at No. 15. Urbina framed Ayton’s accompanying write-up with that familiar, negative lens of criticism and potential.