What is the most sought-after center Ayton in the free market?

As the Portland Trail Blazers bought out Ayton's contract, he immediately became the hottest center in the NBA's 2025 free market. Many teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors were drooling. So what level is he now? Today's Player Test will bring you Ayton's data analysis.

In the NBA, the most dominant star determines the trend. In recent years, as inside stars such as Jokic and Antetokounmpo continue to show dominance, the value of the center has begun to rebound. The big men who were dominated by the terror of the small ball three-pointers in the past have finally had the right to breathe again. It is under this trend that the center players in the free market this summer are very popular, and Ayton is even more famous and has the No. 1 pick, has experience in the finals, and pays a low price to sign the contract in a buyout state. He is definitely the most cost-effective center player this summer.

As the No. 1 pick, he has absolutely no problem with his physical talent. Last season, he weighed 114 kg and ranked 31st in the league, 2.13 meters tall and ranked 13th in the league, and his wingspan with an arm span of 2.28 meters ranks 11th in the league.

But Ayton also has a clear negative attribute, with potential injuries. His regular season attendance rate in his career was 69%, and his attendance rate was only 49% last season. His ankles, calves, and back were all seriously injured. Many people criticized Ayton for not daring to fight against him because he was afraid of being injured.

Tokalchuk, a master of architecture at Columbia University, has a sugar cube metaphor for the high injury rate of NBA centers. When a sugar cube size increases by 1 times, its height, width and depth will only increase by 2 times, but its mass will increase by 8 times. The weight of the human body has a load-bearing limit. The higher the height, the greater the weight, the greater the pressure. In addition, the wooden stick theory, when the bones of the human body grow longer, the hardness will not change. The bones are like wooden sticks. The longer the wooden stick, the easier it is to break. On the contrary, the shorter the less likely it is to break. Chet Homgren is as crisp as a bamboo pole, but Wu Dalang is very solid and it is difficult to have leg fractures. If you want to make a lot of money in the NBA, you have to maintain a long career.

At the press conference where he first joined the Trail Blazers, Ayton said in high spirits that he wanted to re-exert his dominance and hoped that everyone would call him the ruler Ayton. However, under the situation where the Trail Blazers were trying to rebuild, he failed to show his dominance. Later, with the injury problem, he chose to lie down, so it would be more valuable to combine the data of his two seasons at the Trail Blazers.

First of all, let’s talk about the advantages. Ayton is the first rebounder in the league, and his outstanding height and wingspan helps him gain an advantage in rebounding.

Average 11.1 rebounds per game in the league in the 23-24 season (including 3.2 rebounds in the frontcourt ranking 8th in the league), with a rebounding rate of 37.1%.

Average 10.2 rebounds per game in the league in the 24-25 season (of which 3.1 rebounds in the frontcourt ranked 15th in the league), with a rebounding rate of 37.4%.

The lower the rebound rate, the better. This shows that the rebound position is selected well, which directly prevents the opponent from jumping or giving up the competition. Currently, the top rebounder in the league is below 40%, and he also has excellent ability to disrupt the frontcourt rebounds, which can bring error tolerance and sense of security to his teammates' shooting.

At present, Ayton has been in double rebounds for seven consecutive seasons in his career, ranking in the top 10 among the NBA active players. The player with the most double rebounds in the active season is Vucevic, who has 11 seasons of double rebounds.

Fans familiar with the Los Angeles Lakers know that the Lakers have very poor rebounds. Last season, they ranked fifth from the bottom in the league with 42.4 rebounds per game. The little guard Goodwin was valued because he could grab the board. Not to mention anything else, Ayton's rebounding ability is enough to make the Los Angeles Lakers full of joy.

Next to talk about Ayton's ability to protect the frame. A player with a height and wingspan basically raises his hand and stands under the basket. It is a natural interference barrier.

23-24 season, the opponent made a total of 1,019 shots in front of Ayton, hitting 479 goals, limiting the opponent's shooting percentage to 47%, and reducing the opponent's shooting percentage by an average of 2 percentage points.

24-25 season, the opponent made a total of 591 shots in front of Aiton, hitting 282 goals, limiting the opponent's shooting percentage to 47.7%, and reducing the opponent's shooting percentage by an average of 1.3 percentage points.

We need to combine the overall defensive efficiency of the Trail Blazers in the past two seasons with Ayton's personal performance. If a team has strong overall defensive ability, then the players' defensive efficiency in the team is bonus. On the contrary, a team has poor overall defensive efficiency, and even the strongest defensive barrier will be dragged down. This is like the Chinese men's football goalkeeper Wang Dalei always has more scenes. It is not because his personal ability is strong, but because the team's overall defense is too weak and always gives opponents a chance to shoot.

The Trail Blazers' defensive efficiency in 2023-24 was 116.6 (lost points per 100 rounds) ranked 23rd in the league. The defensive efficiency in the 2024-25 season increased to 113.7, and the ranking rose to 16th in the league. Their defense is still in the middle and lower reaches of the league, so it is worthy of recognition that Ayton can achieve this record of lowering the reserve requirement ratio in this team with poor defensive efficiency.

Pick-and-roll is Ayton's second selling point. During the Suns' period, he was an important part of the Suns' offensive system. He was a pick-and-roll partner that Paul and Booker relied on. After joining the Trail Blazers, he will definitely decline in pick-and-roll chemistry..

Ayton received a total of 233 attacks after completing pick-and-roll in the 233 seasons, ranking 10th in the league, and scored 246 points with pick-and-roll scored 11th in the league. The shooting percentage of 56.3% in the pick-and-roll back-attack box is considered a qualified level. Currently, the strongest pick-and-roll centers in the league, such as Gobert, Durham, and Jarret Allen, have a shooting percentage of more than 65%, and provide pick-and-roll screen assists with 210 assists, ranking 19th in the league.

The 24-25 season was affected by the reduction in appearances. A total of 159 attacks were received after completing the pick-and-roll, and 179 points were scored using the pick-and-roll back attack box. The shooting percentage of the pick-and-roll back attack box was 58.2%, and 164 assists were provided with pick-and-roll screens.

After talking about the advantages and disadvantages, Ayton is not a space center in the small ball era, and is not a hard inside line than the traditional American black and hard inside line. His style of playing is more introverted and has a sense of embroidery. In terms of dunks that can better reflect the strength of the inside line, Ayton partnered with master point guard Paul during the Suns, and had a very high pie rate. However, even under this natural advantage, his season dunks are among the starting centers of 30 teams in the league, and he has always ranked 15th in the middle and lower reaches of the 15th place in the middle and lower reaches of the opening season. Then look at his scoring ratio in joining the Trail Blazers for two seasons.

The dunk scores accounted for 19%, layup scores accounted for 21%, hook scores accounted for 14%, and jump shot scores accounted for 46%.

The dunk scores accounted for 26%, layup scores accounted for 24%, hook scores accounted for 16%, and jump shot scores accounted for 34%.

The center with a tough style must have a higher dunk ratio and layup ratio, while the technical inside line must have a higher hook and jump shot ratio. I put the wild beast inside line in the current league, that is, Jaylen Durham, who plays for the Detroit Pistons, to make a simple comparison of the data.

Jaylen Durham scored 57% of the dunk scores, layup scored 33%, hook scored 6%, and jump shot scored 4%. Through comparison, you should be able to feel how high Ayton's technical content is in the center position.

In addition, the traditional skills of the center, Ayton also uses very little in low-level singles, with 136 low-level singles in the 23-24 season, ranking 27th in the 27th in the entire league, and 52 times in the 24-25 season.

In the past, people always criticized the American inside for having physical and athletic ability, but they didn't have skills. Now Ayton has skills but is still criticized. One of the main reasons is that his skills are not strong. Whether it is mid-range shots or hook-up skills, they basically have a shooting rate of about 45%-50%. This scoring method relies on the feel and hit rate, and cannot cause hard damage. At critical moments, it is impossible to expect him to be a tough player. In addition, in terms of free throws that can better reflect the technical content, Ayton's average free throw shooting rate in his career was 75%. He did not have solid basic free throw skills like European technical insiders.

Above is the situation of Ayton. He is the first in the league in rebounds and pick-and-rolls, and has a deterrent effect in the protection of the frame. He can seize the opportunity to score more than 10 points in every game, but he must not rely on him in terms of scoring. This year, Ayton just turned 27 years old. For the center, this is the golden age of his career. He still has the opportunity to fight for a long-term contract in the future. I hope he can choose a team that will play his strengths and avoid weaknesses and play dominance again.