With a 4-24 record, the Suns are an embarrassment¹.Phoenix² will have to play out the rest of this 82-game slog in turmoil³. Owner Robert Sarver fired the team's general manager just days before the season, and is now reportedly threatening to move the team if the city doesn't give public funding to upgrade the team's decades-old arena⁴. The team's best player, Devin Booker, has been sidelined by one injury or another for much of the season. And rookie head coach Igor Kokoskov is tasked with navigating⁵ his young team through all the madness.

4胜24负的战绩使太阳队处于很尴尬的局面。太阳队将不得不在这动荡不安的82场比赛中打完剩下的比赛。球队老板罗伯特·萨维尔在赛季前几天解雇了球队的总经理。据报道，如果凤凰城没有提供公共资金来升级球队拥有着几十年历史的球馆，他们将要把球队迁走。作为球队最好的球员，德文·布克在本赛季的大部分时间里都因伤病缺阵。新秀主教练伊戈尔·科科斯科夫的任务是带领他的年轻球队度过所有的难关。

It's all fed into the perception that Phoenix made a franchise-altering mistake by selecting center Deandre Ayton on the night of June 21, 2018. If only the Suns had gone instead with Luka Doncic, who is currently helping⁶ the Mavericks⁷ make an unexpected playoff push.The Suns faced two roads diverging⁸ in the 2018 NBA draft, and went with the road well traveled by choosing a classic cornerstone center, Ayton, instead of the modern, positionless playmaker, Doncic.

所有人都被灌输了这样一种理念：菲尼克斯太阳队在2018年6月21日晚上选择了中锋德安德烈·艾顿，这是一个改变球队命运的错误选择。如果太阳队能选择卢卡·东契奇，情况可能就好多了。东契奇现在正在帮助独行者取得好成绩，甚至是打进意想不到的季后赛。2018年NBA选秀大会中，太阳队面临着两条不同的道路，他们选择了一个传统的基石中锋艾顿，而不是现代的锋位摇摆人东契奇。

It's too soon to make final judgments⁹ about players drafted less than six months ago, now almost one-third of the way through their rookie seasons. And consider the circumstances: Doncic fell into a dream scenario¹⁰ with an experienced head coach in Rick Carlisle, and supporting veterans that enhance and complement¹¹ his current skill set. The last thing Ayton has is support.

现在对不到六个月的新秀球员做出最终判断还为时过早，目前几乎是新秀赛季的三分之一。考虑一下当时的情况：东契奇加入了一只比较理想的球队，遇到了一位经验丰富的主教练卡莱尔，而且有经验的老将也为他加强扩充了技能包。而艾顿唯一所拥有的就只有支持了。

NBA scouts¹² and executives have long questioned Ayton's competitive spirit, and those questions have all carried into the NBA. Ayton's focus and effort are underwhelming, and he's had a habit of complaining on the court. Ayton too often he gets beat up the floor in transition, and outmuscledin the half court, like he does in the clip above by Clippers center Boban Marjanovic. Even when Ayton contests jump shots, he turns his head to watch the flight of the ball instead of following through with his contest. Watching Ayton, it seems like he's more worried about the results than he is channeling all his energy into the process (which can, of course, influence the results).

NBA球探和高管们长期以来一直在质疑艾尔顿的竞争精神，这些问题也都带到了NBA。艾尔顿的专注和努力并没有给人留下深刻的印象，而且他已经养成了在球场上抱怨的习惯。艾尔顿在转换进攻中经常被打得灰头土脸，并且在半场中显得力不从心，就像他在快船中锋博班·马亚诺维奇对位时候所表现出来的一样。甚至当艾尔顿在比赛中跳投时，他也会转过头去看球的飞行轨迹，而不是继续专注比赛。观察艾顿，他似乎更担心结果，而不是将全部精力投入到这个过程中(当然，这可能会影响结果)。

NBA

From the moment Ayton was selected, the team's focus became clear: the Suns wanted to build an inside-out system around a perimeter¹³ scoring machine in Booker, and an interior presence in Ayton. There's a blueprint¹⁴ to be followed, and the Suns, despite how things look, are staying the course. Their draft-night trade for wing Mikal Bridges and signing of Trevor Ariza suggests there's an understanding that Ayton and Booker can be optimized¹⁵ if surrounded by 3-and-D wings.

从艾顿被选中的那一刻起，球队的重点就变得清晰起来:太阳想要在布克和艾顿建立起一个内外兼备的得分系统。布克主攻外线，艾顿扛起内线的大旗。这样就有了一个可遵循的蓝图，而太阳，不管事情看起来如何，都在继续前进。他们在选秀之夜交换了米卡尔·布里奇，并签下了特雷沃·阿里扎都表明他们的意图，那就是艾尔顿和布克在3D球员的帮助下，可以放大他们的组合的效果。

Ayton is scoring an excellent 1.07 points per possession in the half court, which is comparable to the always efficient Steven Adams. Ayton is far more skilled, of course, though he hasn't always had opportunities to show it. Phoenix's point guard problem is apparent in its inability to feed Ayton, but the rookie should also be fighting harder to demand touches.

艾尔顿在半场的持球得分为1.07分，与一向高效的亚当斯相当。当然，艾尔顿的技术要好得多，尽管他并不总是有机会表现出来。菲尼克斯太阳队的控球后卫的问题很明显，他不能给艾尔顿创造得分的机会，但是这位新秀也应该更加努力的去争取持球权。

The season is young, and Ayton's offensive tools have already impressed. The flaws are there, but it's unreasonable¹⁶ to expect them to disappear so soon. The good part is everything that scouts lauded¹⁷ about his game in college has translated. The bad part is the same can be said about the concerns with his defense¹⁸. Ayton makes slow reads in the pick-and-roll, but that's to be expected for any young big man—especially one on this horrific Suns team that doesn't play a lick of perimeter defense.

这个赛季还早，艾尔顿的进攻手段已经给人留下了深刻的印象。缺点的确存在，但期望这些缺点马上消失是不合理的。最棒的是球探们对他在大学里的比赛所称赞的一切都已经兑现了。不好的地方是同样可以用他的防守来说明。艾尔顿在挡拆中的移动速度很慢，但这对任何一个年轻的大个子来说都是意料之中的事，尤其是在这支连外线防守都没有的太阳队。