Arizona in NBA Summer League: Deandre Ayton ‘felt like a rookie’ in Suns debut

Deandre Ayton was the main attraction at Friday’s Las Vegas Summer League action.

The No. 1 overall pick made his highly-anticipated debut with the Phoenix Suns, and drew plenty of attention from fans and media members alike — and the Dallas Mavericks, too.

Dallas double teamed Ayton from the opening tip, catching the big man by surprise.

“I told coach ‘yo, they double team in the league?’ and everybody started laughing,” Ayton said. “They just said they were showing me respect.”

The Mavericks held Ayton to 10 points, eight rebounds, three turnovers, and zero assists, but lost 92-85. Ayton was 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line in 22 minutes.

He described his performance as “all right.” Some folks were a bit harsher.

“I felt like a rookie,” Ayton admitted. “I could feel the energy around. I was speeding myself up a lot on a few jump shots.”

Ayton said he was more excited than nervous to finally make his debut.

“You just want to run and jump,” he said. “I missed some plays but I was just really excited to get on the floor and try to make a highlight play.”

Speaking of highlight plays, here were Ayton’s best moments from his debut:

Rawle Alkins had 12 points and six rebounds in just 14 minutes in his debut with the Toronto Raptors. Our writeup on that, plus video of his nasty reverse dunk, can be found here.

Kadeem Allen had six points, three rebounds, and two assists as the Celtics beat the Sixers, 95-89. He played 14 minutes off the bench.

Grant Jerrett started for the Clippers, and had six points and 10 rebounds on 1-of-6 shooting.

Chance Comanche did not play in the Orlando Magic’s opener.

Saturday’s schedule can be seen below. Allonzo Trier (Knicks) and Kobi Simmons (Grizzlies) will make their LVSL debuts: