As the Portland Trail Blazers get ready for another NBA season, the coaching staff has a lot of big decisions to make. Portland has a stacked frontcourt, especially after they made the decision to draft center Donovan Clingan out of UConn in the first-round of the 2024 NBA Draft.

Clingan will be battling for minutes with other centers Robert Williams III and Deandre Ayton. The latter has been one of the more polarizing players in the NBA since he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Phoenix Suns back in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Ayton entered the league looking to become another dominant center after performing strongly at the University of Arizona. But so far, he hasn’t been able to live up to the hype that he had around him when he got drafted.

He’s still a good player but for a first overall pick, he has been a disappointment. Ayton was recently named as one of the most overrated players in the NBA by Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report.

“Ayton’s high-usage, “meh” efficiency profile is a lot like Vučević’s, except he’s nowhere near as good of a facilitator and is almost as allergic to drawing contact. Ayton’s refusal to dunk the ball or attack the rim is among the most maddening individual traits in the league. Despite good hands, quick feet and plenty of lift, the 26-year-old has ranked in or above the 98th percentile in mid-range attempt frequency among bigs in each of the last three years.”

In his first season with Portland, Ayton posted 16.7 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. While his year wasn’t the worst, he mainly used his stats to cover up his mediocrity on the floor.

Ayton was expected to be a bruiser in the paint when he was drafted but he has been far from that. His inside game hasn’t flourished as much as his teams would have liked and he has become reliant on poor defense to get easy shot attempts.

With Clingan now in the building, Ayton could become expendable for the Trail Blazers. He is scheduled to make $34 million this season and $35.5 million next year.

Portland will have to decide if Ayton is part of their future or they could look to trade him for some assets. If the Trail Blazers don’t see Ayton as part of the future core, he could see his playing time cut this season as they get the younger players more reps.

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