For the first time in his career, Deandre Ayton isn't his team's everyday starting center. Because of this, his name has been out of the spotlight a lot this season, with All-Star big Anthony Davis and former second-overall pick Alex Sarr in front of him. However, despite the stats not jumping off the page in his limited minutes this season, he's been extremely solid off the bench for the Washington Wizards.
The Deandre Ayton trade has paid off for the Wizards so far
During the offseason, the Wizards made the surprise move to trade for Ayton in exchange for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks. While perhaps a somewhat confusing move at the time, we're now seeing why the Wizards made this move.
Before the Ayton trade, the Wizards' backups at the center and power forward spots were not deep at all. The only bigs on the team besides Davis and Sarr were Tristan Vukcevic and Anthony Gill. Vukcevic hasn't played this season due to a hip injury, and Gill is mostly on the team as a locker room presence; he isn't expected to have much on-court value.
Given the small price the Wizards paid to get Ayton, it's been a home run. He gives the Wizards a more-than-capable big man who can step in when needed and play good minutes, and he also provides great insurance at the position if either Davis or Sarr misses some time.
Monday night was Ayton's first start of the season with Sarr sidelined with knee soreness, and the team didn't miss a beat. He finished with only four points and six rebounds and was a +4. Having a backup center who is extremely comfortable starting will be highly valuable this season.
Ayton has been underrated this season
He's only averaging 5.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, but he's doing so in extremely limited minutes. He's only playing 14.3 minutes a night. However, if you look at his per-36-minute stats, he's averaging 12.4 points and 10.4 rebounds. Those are the numbers of a quality starting center, even if those numbers are somewhat theoretical.
Ayton has put up solid numbers in all of his stops throughout his NBA career, though, so for him to be on pace for those stats isn't all that crazy. In fact, his career stats are 15.7 points and 10 rebounds per game, very similar to his scaled-up Wizards numbers.
It's likely inevitable that Davis will miss some time this season, although hopefully not much; that's just kind of the nature of his game at this point, so having one of the better backup centers is a necessity, especially when the frontcourt has a rather lengthy injury history.
Either way, having depth at the position is great for the Wizards, and Ayton will have chances this season to show his value in a bigger role. But for the time being, he's been an extremely steady backup center, and that's exactly what the Wizards needed. Seeing him buy into his role is encouraging for his future as a rotational big in the NBA.
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