Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker issues challenge to Trail Blazers’ center and former teammate Deandre Ayton

Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton came out aggressively and scored 18 points with eight rebounds Tuesday night during his return to face his former team, the Phoenix Suns, who won 120-107 at the Footprint Center.

Taking notice was Suns guard Devin Booker, who played five seasons with Ayton but at times questioned the former No. 1-overall pick’s effort.

“He played extra hard tonight,” Booker told reporters. “I seen that. My challenge is for him to play like that every night.”

Ayton hasn’t quite done that yet with the Blazers, who acquired him in a three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks days before training camps started.

The Suns moved Ayton, in part, because he hadn’t lived up to expectations and at times didn’t give maximum effort. The Suns chose to move Ayton for depth and netted center Jusuf Nurkic and forward Nassir Little from the Blazers, and guard Grayson Allen from the Bucks.

Ayton’s play has been up and down this season. But that’s partially due to the team’s poor three-point shooting not providing him much space to operate, and the offense hasn’t run through him very often.

Blazers coach Chauncey Billups has indicated that he is pleased with where Ayton’s game is during the early stages of fitting him into his system. Ayton has been positive and patient with the process, despite averaging a career-low 12.2 points per game entering Tuesday and the team’s ongoing losing streak.

But it’s clear that when Ayton is motivated, he can be a force.

Suns star Kevin Durant, who played last season with Ayton after being traded to Phoenix from Brooklyn at the trade deadline, also acknowledged his former teammate’s aggressiveness on the court during Tuesday’s game.

“He played strong tonight,” Durant told reporters. “He was ducking in. He was getting to his shot in the paint. He was offensive rebounding. They are going to rely on him to do a lot for their team.”

The Blazers are counting on Ayton, 25, to continue to develop and become the impact center the Suns had hoped he would be. Durant said Ayton is young enough to make that happen.

“He’s got a long, long time in this league if he wants to,” Durant said. “So, being thrown into the fire like this and having to be a leader of this team is only going to make him better.”

Devin Booker on facing Deandre Ayton: “It’s fun....He played extra hard tonight. I seen that, and my challenge for him is to play like that every night.” pic.twitter.com/hLVeSPV3hq

— Gerald Bourguet November 22, 2023