Post by Rog on Sept 26, 2018 19:04:51 GMT
The 125th nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame came in as a world beating center picked #1 ready to win titles upon titles with his ferocious athleticism and skilled offensive game. Didn't quite happen, but was he good enough to still be a Hall of Famer? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
34.4 MPG, 16.5 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.9 TOPG on 42.9% from the field, 75.5% from the line, and 25.4% from three
Best Season
76ers(2027) - 22.5 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 1.9 APG, 1.3 SPG, 2.3 TOPG on 44.3% from the field, 76.2% from the line, and 20% from three
Career Highs
Points: 45
Rebounds: 25
Assists: 8
Steals: 6
Blocks: 9
Achievements
Championships: 1
Player of the Game: 98
Player of the Week: 0
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 689
Triple Doubles: 0
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Rebounds - 40th
Awards
2020 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2020 - Rookie of the Year
2020 - All-Rookie Team
2021 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2021 - Rookie Game MVP
2025 - All-Star Game Participant
2026 - All-League Third Team
2026 - Defensive Player of the Year
2026 - All-Defensive Team
2027 - All-Star Game Participant
2028 - All-League Third Team
Arguments For Induction
- Ayton played in two All-Star Games, was named to two All-League Third teams, one All-Defensive First team, and won one Defensive Player of the Year.
- Ayton came into the league as a destructive scorer and really was that for a bulk majority of his career. His second season he was scoring 15 a game and that rose to 20 pretty quickly. He scored over 20 points a game twice in his career, basically the benchmark for elite scoring for a big. He was constantly over 17 a game as well. As a 7 foot 250 pound player you'd expect to see some issues at the free throw line too, but he shot 75.5% from the line for his career as well. He also could step out and hit the three a bit too, hitting 51 in his career. Just a solid, well rounded scorer, but not quite the wrecking ball he was expected to be.
- There just isn't much to talk about when it comes to rebounding or that would have been the first thing on this list, Ayton was an elite rebounding center. He averaged 12.5 for his career and finished his career 40th all time. In his prime you could guarantee he'd be over 13 a game and spent time over 13.5 as well(four season).
- Given his Defensive Player of the Year award and two defensive nominees, you'd expect his defense to be the best thing about him, but beyond a couple seasons he wasn't elite defensively. But he was absolutely solid there. He averaged 3.7 stocks per game for his career and had four seasons over 4 stocks per game. His big defensive player of the year he averaged 14.3 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, and 1.7 steals in an absolute monster of a defensive season.
- The biggest thing with Ayton was that he wasn't weak in any one area. He was a good scorer, great rebounder, great defender, and really didn't have any flaws other than he didn't pass very well. But even then he didn't turn it over at a rate that was an argument against. He was just a crazy solid, crazy consistent player who did everything well you'd ask him to do. To me that is a Hall of Famer for a big in this league.
Arguments Against Induction
- Are those awards enough? Because those awards really don't look enough. Two All-League teams? Two Defensive Teams? One Defensive Player of the Year? No way is that even close. And he doesn't have a Player of the Week or Month and only 98 games he was player of the game. I know FBB is biased big time against bigs, but come on.
- Five seasons of his 13 in the league, only five, did he have more points per game than 17. Is that really a good scorer? Seems about average and about par for the course for a big in this league. Plus his field goal percentage was absolutely abysmal at 42.9% and had seasons where he didn't clear 41. Thats bad.
- There is no doubt he was a great rebounder, but is it really something he can rest his case on when his defense isn't great, his offense wasn't even good? When this is the thing he is resting his entire case on, he can't even clear 13 a game for his career? And he only has six season where he cleared it overall? Just not enough to be a motivating thing.
- Overall Ayton was good, no one will deny that. He was a fun player to have and watch box scores because he'd have these insane games. But he was not a Hall of Famer. 1.5 assists to 1.9 turnovers is atrocious. His FG% was an absolute issue. His defense was great numbers wise but was he solid just overall? His rebounding was great, but not elite. His scoring was just okay. Doesn't sound like any of that adds up to being a Hall of Famer in any way.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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