Brooklyn Nets: 3 takeaways from bounce-back win over Suns

3. Ayton appears to be the real deal

Leading up to the 2018 NBA Draft, Arizona center Deandre Ayton checked off all the boxes on paper — 7-foot-1, 260 pounds, 7-foot-5 wingspan, 9-foot-3 standing reach.

On the court, he showed a decent touch from the outside and at the foul line and good passing skills out of double teams.

The Phoenix Suns used the No.1  overall pick to take the native of the Bahamas.

But in the 47 days since the first time the Brooklyn Nets saw Ayton, he’s made tremendous progress.

In Brooklyn’s 104-82 win at Phoenix on Nov. 6, Ayton scored 15 points with 13 rebounds and turned the ball over four times while shooting 6-for-17 from the floor.

He was content, except for a short burst in the third quarter, to stay on the perimeter, which made it each for Jarrett Allen and Ed Davis to defend him, because at 16 to 18 feet away, his massive size advantage was negated.

Ayton was a very different dude on Sunday.

He enforced his will in the low block, scoring 26 points on 13-of-16 shooting and grabbing 18 rebounds — matching his career-highs in each category.

On the season, Ayton is now averaging 16.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 59.9 percent shooting.

If you were curious, the list of rookies to average at least 16 points, 10 rebounds and two assists per game while shooting better than 59 percent looks like this:

1. Deandre Ayton
   End

The 2018 draft was the eighth straight year the Suns were in the lottery, but this year was the first time the Suns had the top overall pick.

They’ve had some hits  and misses in the lottery over this recent stretch, striking gold with Devin Booker at No. 13 overall in 2015 and doing well with T.J. Warren at No. 14 overall in 2014. Markieff Morris at No. 13 overall in 2011 did some solid work in Phoenix. Josh Jackson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2017, has shown flashes.

But they whiffed on Alex Len at No. 5 in 2013, Kendall Marshall at No. 13 in 2012 and Dragan Bender at No. 4 in 2016. Bender has been such a disappointment that the Suns declined his fourth-year option for next season.

In Ayton, however, it appears they at least have the second piece along with Booker — whose five-year max extension kicks in next season — in their rebuild.

He’s certainly made a lot of progress in the last seven weeks.