Joel Ayayi from Gonzaga University.
Awhile back, I took some initial notes about him, while covering him on another marathon stream by PD Web.
Midway through the second round, I was hoping the Lakers would buy picks from other teams. I started tweeting out player lists of guys I wanted to see drafted.
But as the draft continued from the 40s into the 50s, I lost hope in the idea of the bought pick.
As I was just about to head to bed after a long day of following the draft, I got this notification that Ayayi was selected by the Lakers as an undrafted free agent signing.
How exciting.
Today, I went through more film work, trying to uncover more details about him as a player and what his “basketball personality” is, outside of his skill set.
But, before I get to that, let’s dig into the skill set.
Last season he played as an off-ball player for Gonzaga, with Jalen Suggs taking more of the primary initiating work. As mentioned in another article, he’s among the best, if not, the best at off-ball movement. The offensive skills that stand out are his ability to shoot, relocate, his touch on floaters, and excellent timing in regards to location on the floor, filling in the gaps, and still providing spacing for his teammates.
Talent
One of my favorite plays come from this particular sequence. It resembles a Spain pick-and-roll action, but instead of hitting the roll-man, kicking out to the 3-point shot, or driving all the way to the hoop, Ayayi introduces a fourth option; a baseline cut leading to an easy finish. (17:52)
While he’s not the most explosive athlete, he has shooting indicators that hint of great touch. Part of that is from the low velocity, soft shots he takes around the rim. Another indicator is his 2-point ability at 40.6% outside of the rim, along with his 78% free throw shooting and his 39% 3-point shooting.
Here’s a play resembling that level of touch (18:35)
Unique
But as mentioned earlier, he has a unique comfort just being in the painted area, or even cut in tight spaces. Here, he’s basically at the dunker spot. A pick-and-roll is executed, and the roll-man essentially screens off Ayayi’s defender for the open shot. (19:34)
Ayayi is unnaturally good at cutting within tight spaces as well. The play starts with a backscreen at the 21:49 mark, which leads to a 3-on-2 situation, 5’ away from the hoop. Freezing the play at 21:51 shows Ayayi beating his man, with both defenders with their backs turned to him, and he carves that space out well for the finish.
Reaction
He simply reacts so quickly to ball and player movement. Here at the 24:11 mark, just as the defender is about to commit to the tag in the paint, Ayayi cuts immediately along the baseline. By the 24:13 mark, he looks like he cuts to the hoop simultaneously with the help defender. Eventually, he’s just screened off, while Ayayi has the open shot right at the rim. Again, it’s another baseline cut off of a Spain pick-and-roll play.
So, we’ve shown how quickly and decisive he makes cuts to the basket, but he reacts every bit as quickly just tracking the ball. His reaction and timing to this particular play is uncanny. Here at 26:24, a defensive rebound is just about to be caught. As it is being caught, he already has one step heading towards the basket. By the time the defensive rebounder lanes, he’s already initiating his third step. In fact, if you freeze the video at three different times within the 26:24 mark, you can see him in motion up to step three, while everyone else is at one.
Recognition
Another one of my favorite plays happens again at the 40:15 mark. He reads a defender playing over the top in ball denial, signals to Nembhard to come over, and it acts like a split-cut action. He cuts across the lane, presents an open catch radius, and finishes at the hoop. Notice Timme is simultaneously moving away from the play, and his defender has his back turned altogether.
Defensively, Ayayi sees the halfcourt trap taking place, tags the first open man, and reads the pass immediately. By the 39:02 mark, he’s already tracking the ball-handler’s eyes, rotating to the open man, and gets one step into the lane, right as the jump pass is in motion.
Defense
No player is absolutely perfect, but improvement can be made in this department. He is reach-reliant defensively. As a 6’5” guard with a 6’7” wingspan, it makes sense, but at the NBA level, that kind of length is neutralized, and is actually becoming the new standard of point guard size.
Here, we just see a ton of space created on deceleration on the initial drive, and then space created again, once he absorbs the contact.
Here can also be a bit “hop-happy” on defense, and once in awhile it opens up a lot of space for an open jumpshot. Cleaned up footwork helps him keep up laterally against a lot of straight-line drives.
Defensive Stops
But not all hope is lost, these are what his type of defensive stops look like.
Here, Joel Ayayi stops a straight line drive, uses his physicality to shield the basket, eats up the remaining space, and forces a tough shot.
Here, Ayayi is defending Payton Prichard. Once again, he defends the straight line drive, this time using his chest to absorb contact around the free throw line, and forces a tough shot.
So, what did you mean about “Basketball Personality?”
Players just play certain ways. In Joel Ayayi’s case, he’s never really hurried, reacts unusually well to the ball, and is an opportunistic scorer. He can be contact averse when finishing at the rim. The slightest bumps off verticality throw off the shot. Peculiarly, when he’s finishing near the rim, his misses are horizontal. When he shoots behind the arc, his shots miss short. He doesn’t have a wealth of advanced moves, which hurts him in terms of improvisational play. He plays at his own pace, makes predictable moves, and doesn’t force the issue. That kind of “personality” works best as a fourth or fifth option player. He makes simple plays, takes open shots, and doesn’t take unnecessary risks. Does he get into trouble because of it? Sure, sometimes. But, in an NBA world where it’s so difficult to find a player wing-sized draw gravity because of his pull-up arc shooting, or especially in this case off-ball movement, his talents are highly valuable.
None of these things are actual skill sets. They are who he is as a basketball player.
But in the end, how much of this is relieved when he adds NBA strength? In my opinion, a ton. He’s one of the most ideal archetypes that you’d like to see next to primary initiators with vision, and with Russell Westbrook and LeBron James on the floor, chances are, his talents will be optimized quite well.