Deandre Ayton Spends a Season Proving He’s Deandre Ayton

As the 2025 NBA Playoffs chug onward and the Portland Trail Blazers await their fate in the NBA Draft Lottery, we’re taking a look at the performance of Portland’s current roster during the 2024-25 season. So far we’ve talked about Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Jerami Grant, and Donovan Clingan. Today we’re examining the man in the middle, center Deandre Ayton.

The Good

In his second year with Portland, Ayton continued to be the player that the Blazers traded for back in 2023: a semi-diverse scorer and rebounder with slight defensive deficiencies. His scoring dropped from 16.7 points per game last year to 14.4 this, but that’s a direct reflection of him getting fewer field goal attempts in a lineup more crowded with scorers. Ayton’s point-per-attempt rate remained steady at 1.23 season over season.

Though it’s a decrease, 14.4 ppg isn’t horrible. It ranks Ayton as the 13th-best scoring center in the NBA. He’s also the 12th-best aggregate rebounder, the 13th-best offensive rebounder.

Shooting 56.6% from the field and 59.4% on two-point shots is good, especially since Ayton ranges out on the floor on offense. Ayton also had the second-best defensive rating among regular Blazers players this year, behind only fellow center Donovan Clingan.

Other than that, Ayton’s stats were static, absolutely predictable given last year’s output. It’s almost eerie how little changed between the two seasons for him.

The Bad

Static production, particularly at a level that’s just average for NBA starters, is probably not what the Blazers had in mind when they received Ayton as the main piece in exchange for franchise face Damian Lillard two years ago. Ayton hasn’t reached his former level of production with the Phoenix Suns in Portland, let alone becoming the star-in-waiting he was once assumed to be. His contributions certainly aren’t a great value given his $34 million salary.

Ayton also has a couple of concerning stats. The most obvious one is 40 games played, less than half the season. Portland wasn’t holding him back either. Robert Williams III barely suited up. Rookie Clingan was the only other alternative. The Blazers could have used more of Ayton than they got this year.

Second, Ayton ranked dead last in plus/minus per 100 possessions (-6.8) and net plus/minus per 100 (-5.1) among all Portland’s regular rotation players. That’s super concerning for a guy who might have been able to wage a campaign for being the #1 starter, or at least a solid second, when he came to the team.

Ayton’s role in the offense in more up in the air than ever. He started taking more three-pointers this year, extending his range on the floor, but he shot them approximately 60% as accurately as in his final year in Phoenix. Frankly, his three-point shooting has been miserable in Portland. That doesn’t help.

Ayton also sets picks with all the effectiveness of a stuffed Pusheen. The Blazers still rely pretty heavily on high screens in their non-isolation offense. Ayton is not good at establishing or holding them. Some of this can be explained by his guards still learning to use screens well, but even with that asterisk, the difference between him and Clingan is glaring. And Clingan isn’t even that great at it himself.

The Analysis

The best thing about Deandre Ayton right now appears to be that his contract will expire next summer. It’s not that he’s a bad player. He’s just not on the tier that his compensation and reputation would suggest. His nickname is “Dominayton” but it’s more like, “Can’t Get You to Mayton” or, with this year’s injuries, “Day-to-Dayton”.

You can call Jey Uso “Main Event” and even put a title on him, but that doesn’t make him Roman Reigns. Deandre Ayton is the Jey Uso of the NBA. Except on nights he doesn’t pay attention. Then he’s Jimmy.

We could list the things Ayton needs to do better: set screens, move on defense, develop a go-to move, demand to be more of a cog in the offense and produce, bring energy every quarter, every game. Next season would mark the eighth consecutive year in which some version of those things has been said. At a certain point you just have to suspect that the player you have is the player you’ll get. That point has arrived with Deandre Ayton.

We shouldn’t undersell Ayton’s talent. On certain nights, he’s spectacular. Those nights are few and far between enough that they’re just part of the landscape now, a particularly pretty tree on a hill of nondescript ones. At this point, we can’t see the tree for the forest. There’s no particular reason to forecast that changing. The Blazers will just have to take the good and the bad that come along with the Ayton package.

What’s Next?

The big question facing the Blazers this summer is whether they’ll attempt to extend Ayton’s contract beyond its current 2026 expiration date. The argument for is that he is a starting center and he’s only 26 years old, 27 at the start of next season. The argument against is pretty much everything you’ve read above.

The next question will be whether Portland can swap Ayton for any value whatsoever should they decide not to offer him an extension. If they can, a trade might be tempting. They’ll lose him for nothing otherwise. If they can’t, they still have the option to re-sign him next summer (should both parties agree). Lack of value on the trade market might give them a clue as to his free agent value, if it gets to that point.

Until these issues are resolved, Ayton’s off-court status will receive as much attention as his play in the coming year. What’s next for him is to see how long, and in what capacity, he’s going to be with the team. Once that’s resolved, the persistent questions facing his production and contributions can take center stage once more.