Since the start of the season, the Trail Blazers are still ranked second to last in the West, and there is no hope of improving their record, but this is also quite consistent with their goal of rebuilding, after all, getting a higher ranked draft pick through a bad game is one of the future plans of the Trail Blazers. However, the biggest headache for the Trail Blazers now is far more than that, and the recovery status of center Ayton's left knee injury is not clear, and it is still uncertain when he will return, which obviously affects the future plans of the Trail Blazers.
As the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, Ayton's ability to beat Doncic, Trae Young and others is enough to prove his individual talent and ability, and the Suns also regarded him as the team's interior core after selecting him. Ayton's style of play is more like a traditional center, with some offensive threat under the basket, but his shooting ability is also good, and he has even developed three-point shooting ability. For the small-ball era, Ayton is in need of a player of his type, and Ayton is also seen as a representative of the new generation of centers in the future.
With the tactical support of the Suns, Ayton's tactical position has become higher and higher, but his performance has been tepid. The Suns wanted Ayton to play at a dominant level and put a lot of trust in his individual offense, but Ayton was never able to guarantee a consistent output, and even individual accolades were scarce. In his five seasons in the NBA, Ayton's biggest personal accolade was being named to the All-Rookie First Team.
Ayton's performance will naturally disappoint the Suns management, and before the start of the season, the Suns, who are aiming to win the championship, also sent Ayton to the Trail Blazers, hoping to add new hope to the team's future. Ayton, who has long been dissatisfied with the attitude of the Suns management towards him, is naturally ecstatic, and said in an interview that he will play like O'Neal in the new season and lead the Trail Blazers to the playoffs.
Ayton's rhetoric gave the Trail Blazers management some confidence, but after the start of the season, Ayton's performance disappointed the Trail Blazers management. Averaged 13 per game1 point 108 rebounds, although Ayton still contributed an average of two double-doubles per game, but under the premise that the Trail Blazers were unavailable inside, Ayton still delivered the lowest point average per game in his career so far. Such a sluggish performance is not because the Trail Blazers did not support Ayton, but because Ayton really did not play a convincing performance.
The Trail Blazers don't have much to ask for results this season, and their best hope is that the team can build a mature tactical system that will lay a solid foundation for the future. But even so, the Trail Blazers still want the team to move in the right direction, especially to identify the tactical core of the future. Now Simmons is regarded as the tactical core of the team by the Trail Blazers, and Ayton is expected to be the best partner next to Simmons, but as it stands, he has not done so.
With Ayton's ability, even if he can't become the league's No. 1 center, he should be among the top stars, but Ayton, who is only 25 years old, looks like he is 65 years old on the court, weak at both offensive and defensive ends. If Ayton continues to perform like this, the Trail Blazers probably won't be willing to keep him.