BIOGRAPHY
Deandre Ayton was born on July 23, 1998, in Nassau, Bahamas. He is a center in the NBA.
He was born to Nigerian father Alvin and mother Andrea, a Bahamian of Jamaican descent. He has four siblings. Ayton was first scouted by an Annual Bahamian basketball magazine called the Bahamian Basketball Yearbook. At the age of 12, Ayton was scouted by the All Bahamian Brand who were visiting Bahamas Academy High School, a tiny private school then located on Wulff Road in Nassau. In order to properly train for basketball, Ayton had to work part-time jobs to pay the $100 necessary for training camp.
Ayton later moved to San Diego, California to play high school basketball. As a senior in 2016–17, Ayton led Hillcrest to a 33-6 record and national rankings across multiple outlets while averaging 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3.5 blocks. While representing the World Select team, Ayton played at the 2016 Nike Hoop Summit, chipping in with eight points to go along with seven rebounds.
Ayton made his college debut with the University of Arizona on November 10, 2017, recording 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a 101–67 win. At the end of the regular season, Ayton was named both the Pac-12's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, as well as become a member of the All-Pac-12 first team (in terms of both regular voting and voting through the Associated Press) and be named the winner of the Karl Malone Award. He was also voted a consensus first-team All-American.
On June 21, 2018, the Phoenix Suns selected Ayton with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He was the franchise's first No. 1 pick in their history. He averaged 18.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 steals per game in five games during the 2018 preseason with the Suns. On January 29, 2019, Ayton was named a member of the World Team for the Rising Stars Challenge in the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend. At the conclusion of the season, Ayton was named as one of three finalists for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 2019 NBA Awards show. On May 21, Ayton was selected to the 2019 All-Rookie First Team.
He was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers on September 27, 2023.
