Deandre Ayton to suit up for Bahamas after seven years

MIAMI (United States) - The Phoenix Suns center, Deandre Ayton, will play for the Bahamas in the 2023 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament of the Americas that will be played in the cities of Santiago del Estero and La Banda, Argentina, between August 14 and 20.

Ayton will once again wear his country's senior national team jersey since the 2016 Centrobasket Championship, two years before being selected by the Suns with the number one pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. In that tournament , at just 18 years old, Ayton gave a sample of his talent by averaging 16.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.

Now at 25 years old and with five seasons of experience in the best league in the world, Ayton will join his teammates Buddy Hield (Indiana Pacers) and Kai Jones (Charlotte Hornets) in the Bahamas. This will be a lineup full of NBA players who seek to lead their country to take a leap in quality and make noise in the field of international basketball.

The 2.11m player averaged 18.0 points and 10.8 boards with Phoenix last season. In the next one (2023-24) he will continue to be an important piece in the renewed Suns that have stars like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker -members of Team USA that won the gold medal in the last Tokyo Olympics Games- and the additions of Bradley Beal and head coach Frank Vogel.

In the 2023 FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament of the Americas, Bahamas is part of Group A that will play at the Estadio Ciudad, in Santiago del Estero. The Bahamas will face Cuba on August 14, on the 16th they will play against the host Argentina and close the Group Phase against Panama, on the 17th.

Chile, Colombia, the Virgin Islands and Uruguay will compete In Group B, which will take place at the Estadio Vicente Rosales de La Banda.

The top two teams from each group advance to the Semifinals. The winner of this competition will obtain the only place available to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that will be played from July 2 to 7, 2024.

FIBA