NBA Comparison: Frank Ntilikina/Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Strengths: Ayayi is a tall lead guard with tremendous quickness and intriguing skills … He’s a solid playmaker who developed a consistent outside jumper during his career at Gonzaga … High basketball IQ and excellent cutter to create easy buckets for himself … Improved from 27% to 39% from three-point range from his freshman to junior year showing his dedication to working on his shot and game … Benefited from talented teammates around him and was able to get a ton of open looks as the fourth option on the court in their starting lineup … Solid defender who rotates well and can guard wings as well as guards with decent strength and quickness … Crafty passer who can attack the basket with finishes at the rim and also find the open man on the perimeter … Shot 68% from inside the arc due to well-timed cuts and physical finishes at the rim … Can become a two-way impact player for a contending team right away in his career … Is not limited to a 3-and-D role but could easily function in this role until he can improve his ball-handling and initiation of contact to get to the line … 78% free-throw shooter shows his potential to shoot the ball from all over the floor … Translates as a combo guard with decent size at 6’5 who can function as a secondary initiator throughout a game … Has a winning pedigree. Experienced player who did not lose very often during his career at Gonzaga … Great rebounding guard who crashes the glass with ferocity and is capable of starting and/or finishing a fast break … Had some very solid performances in the NCAA tournament including a huge 22 point effort against UCLA in an Overtime win that put them in the NCAA title game … The fact that he averaged 6.9 rebounds per game shows that he’s not afraid to mix it up, despite his lack of strength …

Weaknesses: His inability to put on significant strength in 3 seasons at Gonzaga is concerning and means that he will likely struggle against contact, and gives the impression that he lacks the body strength to play physical and also potentially making him injury prone … Legs are extremely thin and could stand for some strengthening … Despite his ability to get to the basket and shoot a high-percentage, Ayayi only got to the line for two shots per game, which indicates that he avoids contact to some degree …. Slashing ability and great two-point percentage should lead to more attempts per game … No part of his game is elite despite his experience at the age of 21… He still has plenty of room for improvement both physically and skill-wise and is a year or more behind on development in a draft dominated by talented guards … Capable of some flashes of brilliance but predominantly overshadowed by more talented teammates like Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert, and Drew Timme … Showed his ability to attack inside the paint during the NCAA Tournament but his floater appeared to abandon him to a degree as the games got more competitive …

Outlook: Showed slow yet steady improvement throughout his career at Gonzaga and despite a lack of huge production had very solid efficiency as a junior with a 2/1 a/to ratio … Also hit a solid 39% on 3 point shots … Projected as a late first to early second round pick for the 2021 NBA Draft ….

Notes: All WCC First Team in 2020-21 … 12 PPG, 6.9 REB, 2.7 AST, 1.1 STL as a junior at Gonzaga … Originally from Paris, France … 6’5, 180 lb combo guard who will be 21 on Draft Day … 68% 2-PT in his final season …

Derek Bast 5/15/21