Arizona Basketball: Deandre Ayton is officially vindicated

Written off and counted out, former Arizona Basketball star Deandre Ayton is continuing to prove their doubters and basketball pundits wrong.

How many sports commentators and broadcasters have you heard say that Arizona Basketball star Deandre Ayton, taken as the No. 1 pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2019 NBA Draft, was a bust? All along, the “experts” should have assumed that top draft picks are set up to go to a team that is at the bottom of the rung. Or in other words, the worst teams are supposed to get the top draftees.

As the No. 1 pick, Ayton is not the only highly drafted player who has been slapped with the “Bust” label. Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle (2021 NBA Most Improved Player), Brandon Ingram (New Orleans Pelicans Star), D’Angelo Russell have all gotten hit with the label at one point in their career, usually at the beginning of their career.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Ayton landed in Arizona playing for the Phoenix Suns, which is ASU Territory. Arizona Wildcats fans are proud to call him a Wildcat and have never wavered in their support.

However, a lot of Suns fans have had to dig deep and admit that they were wrong and that former Arizona Basketball player Deandre Ayton is a budding star!

On Sunday night, the Phoenix Suns swept Aaron Gordon’s Denver Nuggets in four games after beating the Lakers in six games and are headed to the NBA’s Western Division Finals. The last time the Suns went to the Western Conference Finals was in 2010 when Steve Nash (Current Nets Head Coach) was on the roster.

All the Suns seemed to need was a great point guard and a new coach, as they already had a bucket-getter in Devin Booker.

It comes down to the Front Office making the right moves, and the coaches being able to motivate an underrated and young team. These past couple of offseasons, the Suns Front office got on the right track, first hiring Monty Williams as the head coach in 2019, and snagging veteran point guard Chris Paul (CP3) this past year.

“I can’t say enough about DA and what he does for our team, he does all the things that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” said CP3 after their game three win against Denver. Ayton has averaged a double-double in each of the three seasons he has played in the NBA, and thus overall in his career-to-date.

The double-double machine didn’t stop in the playoffs either, as Ayton racked up seven double-doubles in his 10 playoff games so far.

The Suns quietly caught fire ending up with the second best record in the West, ranking in the top seven on both ends of the floor ending the regular season 51-21, just two games behind No. 1 Utah Jazz (52-20).

On Friday night, Ayton slow down the league’s 2020-21 NBA regular-season MVP, Nikola Jokic (Denver). Here is what his teammate Devin Booker had to say:

"“Deandre has been playing his [butt] off the whole playoffs. From going to (Los Angeles Lakers forward) Anthony Davis first to Jokic, the MVP of the league — Just consistently wear him down throughout the game. He’s so locked into that and I know he has a lot of respect for Jokic. I love when he respects somebody and then goes at him that much more. — Deandre is just taking on the challenge and I’m proud of it.”"

According to FiveThirtyEight.com, based on its RAPTOR forecast, the Suns are now favored to win the 2021 NBA Championship. And that doesn’t happen without their STAR Deandre Ayton.

Ayton is now loved by fans in Arizona and “Ayton Loves Phoenix.”

Celebrating his latest victory with Suns fans after the game from a car. Not sure if that was when he got home or outside the arena in Denver, where a ton of Suns fans attended the game. Ayton is living the life and has to feel vindicated. You can’t help not being happy for the young man. He brings so much joy to so many people.

Ex-Cat Deandre Ayton seeing new heights of success with Suns

Tied 2-2 in a best of seven series, former Wildcat Deandre Ayton has been tremendous in the Suns' series against the defending champion, Los Angeles Lakers.

Whether the Suns win the NBA Championship or not, and we think they have a legitimate shot, Ayton and his basketball prowess are now on full display and he is officially vindicated as a star and not a bust. But we always knew he was a star… just putting that out there for good!