Deandre Ayton vs. Tom Sanders Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Tom Sanders and Deandre Ayton, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Deandre Ayton played 6 years in the NBA, 7 less than Tom Sanders, who played 13. Deandre Ayton had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while Tom Sanders had his rookie season in 1960-61. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13
Rookie Season
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2018-19	1960-61
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	71	30.7	16.3	3.1	7.1	10.3	1.8	0.9	0.9	1.8	2.9	7.2	12.3	.585	0.0	0.1	.000	2.0	2.7	.746
Tom Sanders	68	15.9	5.3	-	-	5.7	0.6	-	-	-	1.9	2.2	5.2	.420	-	-	-	1.0	1.5	.670
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	10	21.6	8.9	-	-	8.4	0.7	-	-	-	4.2	3.7	7.5	.493	-	-	-	1.5	2.4	.625

Season 2
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2019-20	1961-62
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	38	32.5	18.2	3.9	7.6	11.5	1.9	0.7	1.5	2.1	3.1	8.2	14.9	.546	0.1	0.3	.231	1.8	2.3	.753
Tom Sanders	80	29.1	11.2	-	-	9.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.1	.435	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.749
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	14	31.4	10.1	-	-	8.2	1.0	-	-	-	4.6	4.0	9.3	.431	-	-	-	2.1	2.6	.806

Season 3
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2020-21	1962-63
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Suns Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	69	30.7	14.4	3.3	7.2	10.5	1.4	0.6	1.2	1.5	2.8	6.2	10.0	.626	0.1	0.3	.200	1.9	2.5	.769
Tom Sanders	80	26.9	10.8	-	-	7.2	1.2	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	9.3	.456	-	-	-	2.3	3.2	.738
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	22	36.4	15.8	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.1	0.8	1.1	1.3	2.9	7.0	10.6	.658	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.4	.736
Tom Sanders	13	29.8	9.8	-	-	7.4	1.5	-	-	-	4.7	4.0	9.2	.437	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	.774

Season 4
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2021-22	1963-64
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	58	29.5	17.2	2.6	7.7	10.2	1.4	0.7	0.7	1.6	2.4	7.6	12.0	.634	0.1	0.3	.368	1.8	2.4	.746
Tom Sanders	80	29.6	11.4	-	-	8.3	1.3	-	-	-	3.5	4.4	10.5	.417	-	-	-	2.7	3.5	.761
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	13	30.5	17.9	2.5	6.4	8.9	1.7	0.4	0.8	1.5	2.6	8.1	12.6	.640	0.2	0.3	.500	1.6	2.5	.636
Tom Sanders	10	30.2	9.1	-	-	6.8	0.6	-	-	-	4.5	3.4	9.4	.362	-	-	-	2.3	3.4	.676

Season 5
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2022-23	1964-65
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	67	30.4	18.0	2.6	7.4	10.0	1.7	0.6	0.8	1.8	2.8	7.8	13.2	.589	0.1	0.4	.292	2.3	3.0	.760
Tom Sanders	80	30.7	11.8	-	-	8.3	1.2	-	-	-	4.0	4.7	10.9	.429	-	-	-	2.4	3.2	.745
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	10	31.9	13.4	2.9	6.8	9.7	1.0	0.6	0.7	1.7	3.5	6.1	11.1	.550	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	2.3	.522
Tom Sanders	12	30.4	13.3	-	-	8.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.8	5.3	12.7	.421	-	-	-	2.6	3.6	.721

Season 6
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	2023-24	1965-66
Team	Portland Trail Blazers	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	55	32.4	16.7	3.2	7.9	11.1	1.6	1.0	0.8	1.8	2.0	7.8	13.6	.570	0.0	0.2	.100	1.2	1.4	.823
Tom Sanders	72	26.3	12.6	-	-	7.1	1.3	-	-	-	4.4	4.8	11.3	.428	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.764
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	17	29.4	13.5	-	-	6.5	1.6	-	-	-	4.1	5.7	11.8	.483	-	-	-	2.1	2.8	.750

Season 8
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	-	1967-68
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	78	25.4	10.2	-	-	5.8	1.3	-	-	-	3.8	3.8	8.9	.428	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.784
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	14	20.6	8.3	-	-	4.5	0.9	-	-	-	3.8	3.6	7.1	.505	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.762

Season 9
	Deandre Ayton	Tom Sanders
Season	-	1968-69
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	82	26.6	11.2	-	-	7.0	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	4.4	10.3	.430	-	-	-	2.3	3.1	.733
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Deandre Ayton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tom Sanders	15	13.1	5.8	-	-	3.2	0.5	-	-	-	2.7	2.1	4.9	.438	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.742