During the preseason, the Phoenix Suns made an odd trade as part of a three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. As part of the deal, the Suns sent promising young center Deandre Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic. The move perplexed fans and pundits alike, as Ayton had just finished a season in which he averaged 18 points and ten rebounds. In any case, Ayton returned to the Suns arena on Tuesday as a Blazers opponent, and he shared his thoughts on his return to Phoenix with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
"Who am I to really come up here and try to complain or feel some type of way or things didn't go the way I expected. It's a new team and that's a part of the league."
Deandre Ayton on start with Blazers.
"We our guys get healthy and we get this thing cracking." #RipCity #Suns pic.twitter.com/n2VXwU5ios
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 22, 2023
There’s nothing to complain about. “This team gave me the chance to be a part of something new,” Ayton said. “Who am I to come up here and try to complain or feel some kind of way because things didn’t go as planned?” It is a new team, and it is part of the league. I’m not going to sit here and claim that once I got into the league, I started winning. I know how this works. I’m just glad to be around other guys who look up to me and ask me how to do this and how to do that.”
Deandre Ayton has averaged 12.2 points per game, 11.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.5 steals in 13 games for the Blazers this season, while shooting 56.7 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line.
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