chenyan94: Ayton said he knows

Nowadays, he’s one of the first subs off the bench for the Washington Wizards in their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Toronto Raptors.

Lawson is hardly the only player who went from not having a spot on an NBA roster to getting some run, and maybe even filling a key role, during these playoffs. As much as teams develop plans for acquiring talent via the draft, free agency or trades, sometimes a late pickup can become a piece that completes the puzzle.

”It’s not ideal,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said about adding someone on short notice. ”It (requires) a lot of work that has to be done in trying to figure it out and try to incorporate him and integrate him into our offense and defensive schemes.”

With Lawson, though, Brooks added, ”It probably is not as much of a disadvantage because he’s been in the league, understands the NBA and understands the schemes. A lot of the schemes are the same. It’s just different names and a lot of the plays are the same but different names. He picks up things pretty quick. His IQ level is extremely high.”

The series, which the Raptors lead 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday, has been Lawson’s first NBA action in about a year. He was with the Sacramento Kings last season and spent time with three other clubs before that; Lawson was always a success on the court, although a couple of arrests in 2015 on drunken driving charges drew unwanted attention.

His sudden return to the league’s hardwoods came in Game 2 against Toronto, when Brooks turned to his 30-year-old backup and told him to replace All-Star John Wall.

”It was a little bit of a shock. … I was like, `Who?'” Lawson said. ”Once I got my feet wet, hit my first shot, I felt like I was back at home.”

Sure looks that way.

The guard [url=www.broncoscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-bradley-chubb-jersey]Bradley Chubb Jersey[/url] , a 2009 first-round draft pick, is averaging 5.8 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 19 minutes per game, and he’s made a total of only three turnovers for the Wizards.

”That’s a smaller version of John Wall. He’s so quick. … Push the pace. Get out in transition,” Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. said. ”Someone you can’t sleep on. He might be small, but he can create a lot of havoc in the paint. A lot of us know Ty, just from playing against him, so it wasn’t nothing to get him acquainted with everybody.”

There have been other such easy fits.

For all the talk about the Philadelphia 76ers‘ ”process” that landed cornerstone stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, for example, they moved into the East semifinals with notable contributions against the Miami Heat from two more impromptu arrivals, 3-point specialist Marco Belinelli and forward Ersan Ilyasova.

The team signed both in February after they were sent packing by worst-in-the-East Atlanta. Belinelli is averaging 16.6 points in the playoffs, while Ilyasova is putting up 10.8 points and 9.2 rebounds, including three of his five career 10-rebound games.

When the 76ers picked up Ilyasova, they waived Trevor Booker, who then went to the Indiana Pacers. Booker has added a physical presence for Indiana in its series against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As Oklahoma City faces the Utah Jazz, the Thunder are starting Corey Brewer, who was brought in last month after he was bought out by the Los Angeles Lakers. Greg Monroe, added by the Celtics after being bought out by Phoenix [url=www.giantsfootballauthentic.com/will-hernandez-jersey-authentic]Will Hernandez Giants Jersey[/url] , entered Thursday night’s Game 6 of Boston’s series against the Milwaukee Bucks averaging 7.0 points and 5.2 rebounds.

Even former league MVP Derrick Rose became available out of nowhere, signing with the Timberwolves in March. As part of a reserve unit that had been quiet most of the season, he offered some instant offense in Minnesota’s first-round loss to the Houston Rockets.

For the Wizards, Lawson stepped in as a reliable and experienced backup to Wall.

”We need his scoring, we need his playmaking, we need his toughness, we need his ability to get into the paint,” Brooks said. ”And he plays with no fear.”

Lawson crammed for his debut by watching Washington’s main plays on an iPad, learning about 60 to 70 percent of the offense that way. In his first game, he’d ask a teammate to let the basketball bounce on an inbound pass so Lawson would have a moment to ask Brooks which play to run.

But Lawson also relied on a simple mindset.

”I was like, `Be aggressive,”’ he said, ”`and we’ll figure it out.”’

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AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Dave Campbell, Dan Gelston, Kyle Hightower and Michael Marot contributed to this report.

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Mohamed Bamba could be the next Rudy Gobert, and that’s why he’s expected to go very high in the NBA draft.

The towering 7-footer from Harlem, who played his one collegiate season at Texas [url=www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/joe-thomas-jersey]Joe Thomas Jersey[/url] , worked out individually with Phoenix on Saturday, the third player to do so this week as the Suns weigh their options with the No. 1 overall pick this month in the NBA draft.

Deandre Ayton worked out Wednesday and Marvin Bagley III on Friday.

”Mo had a really good workout,” Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said. ”His wingspan, his standing reach, is off the charts. His ability to protect the rim I think will be elite at the NBA level, in addition to his ability to rebound the ball. Another thing that stood out to us in his workout today is we can tell he’s been working on his shooting.”

Bamba has been working with noted shooting coach Drew Hanlen and has made significant changes to his form.

McDonough described Bamba’s old form as ”a slingshot” approach with the ball released far behind the shooter’s head.

Bamba said the changes have ”made like a night-and-day difference in just my mechanics, getting the ball off smoother and having softer landing on the rim.”

”My makes are all net and my misses are landing very soft and long instead of short,” he said.

Bamba has a 7-foot-10 wingspan, the largest ever recorded at the NBA combine. McDonough said Bamba’s highest vertical jump was 12 1-2 feet, ”which is crazy.”

As for the comparison with Gobert, the shot-blocking center of the Utah Jazz, McDonough said ”honestly I think at 20 years old he’s ahead of where Rudy was.”

”Now Rudy’s made tremendous strides over the last three or four years,” McDonough said. ”The question for Mo is can he fill out his body the way Rudy has. But in terms of measurements, they’re similar. In terms of the willingness and desire to anchor a defense and protect the rim, they’re similar. I think Mo probably is a little more mobile at the same age and Rudy is probably stronger, more physically developed at the same age.”

Bamba loves the comparison.

”He just changed the geometry of the game,” Bamba said. ”When he’s not blocking the shot, he’s in the back of your mind.”

McDonough calls Bamba ”a super-bright guy [url=www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/josh-jackson-jersey]Josh Jackson Jersey Elite[/url] , one of the smarter guys I’ve seen in the last 10 or 15 years come through the pre-draft process.”

Bamba believes that intelligence will serve him well in the NBA.

”I have the natural ability to pick things up a lot faster than I think most people would,” he said, ”and I think I’ve shown that in the workout that we did today. … IQ is really big. It’s something that you really want to have on and off the court and it takes your game to the next level for sure.”

Bamba weighs 234 pounds.

”He’s super-long but he’s thin so he needs to add some length to his body, especially the lower body,” McDonough said. ”But I think from day one he’ll be able to step on the court and impact games defensively, block shots, rebound and then be an over-the-top lob threat and then build the rest of his game out from there.”

Bamba said he is working out for other teams but didn’t want to identify them. Ayton said the Suns were the only team he’s working out with. Bagley planned to work out with Sacramento and Atlanta, teams with the No. 2 and No. 3 picks, respectively, in the June 21 draft.

Ayton said he knows he will be the No.1 pick. Bagley said he, not Ayton, deserves to be.

Bamba was more diplomatic.

”Everyone feels entitled to it, but I have no entitlement to it,” he said. ”It’s something that obviously I worked my butt off for and my whole thing is to put it in very short sentences – I do more and I require less. The Suns are more than a perfect fit for me.”