2. Aron Baynes, Phoenix Suns
From one big man to another, Aron Baynes has well and truly caught fire in the desert.
Phoenix was just expected to continue to struggle, being one of the worst teams in the NBA for a number of years now. Despite having young stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton on the team, nobody truly believed that Phoenix would be a competitive team this season either.
Yet at 7-4 to open the season, the Suns have been one of the more surprising teams in the Western Conference. All of this happening after losing Deandre Ayton for 25 games due to a violation of NBA drug-doping policies.
This start can be hugely credited to the ‘fill in’ center, Australian Aron Baynes. Baynes moved to Phoenix after two seasons with the Celtics, quickly being thrust into the starting line-up after Ayton’s suspension.
Baynes’s previous season-best average was 6.6 points-per-game, coming on as a bench player for much of his career.
He is currently averaging 15 points per game. Quite an emphatic statement through 11 games by the big Australian.
In a drastically changing league where the 3-point shot is more important than ever before, Baynes is incorporating this skill into his own game. He is currently averaging four 3-point attempts per game and not only that, hitting on an impressive 47 percent of those shots taken.
In his 8th season in the NBA, Baynes has only ever attempted 133 3-point shots across his entire career. More than 40 percent of those have come from his first 11 games this season.
Baynes is also adding almost six rebounds and three assists per game, both also career-high averages. This shows that Baynes has arguably been as important and influential as Devin Booker to start the Suns season.
Keep watching as the big man from down under continues to fine-tune his game in the absence of Deandre Ayton, assisting in the rise of the Phoenix Suns.