OAKLAND, Calif. -- As veteran Phoenix Suns players undress and get ready to shower after a preseason win over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena, prized No. 1 NBA Draft pick Deandre Ayton sits next to his locker in full uniform looking at his phone. After a few minutes, he gets up, glances around and notices a gaggle of reporters waiting for him. Ayton, looking and acting like a mischievous, 7-foot 12-year-old, finds a large white board and wheels it over in front of his locker to shield himself from prying eyes while he disrobes. After showering and getting dressed, Ayton is told that the reporters are still waiting to speak with him.

"If they wanted to talk to me, all they had to do was knock!" Ayton says, rapping his gigantic fist on the white board as he pushes it away from his locker.

It was a genuine moment from Ayton, whose charisma and vitality permeate the room the second he opens his mouth. He's goofy, confident, funny and forthcoming -- not something you often see from rookies who have yet to play their first real NBA game. Just take his refreshingly honest response to his first time playing against the Warriors on Monday.

"Well, I finally believe that there is a Steph Curry, Kevin Durant -- haven't seen Klay [Thompson] really, but that was insane," Ayton said after the Suns' 117-109 win. "Just seeing how Curry can really score the ball and how efficient he is, it's insane. When I seen that four-point play I'm like, 'what the heck?' It was just like I'm watching it on TV but I'm actually in the game, so I was like, 'alright Dre, let's lock in -- lock in.' You know, K.D., he was guarding me and I was guarding him -- it was just like, a dream come true."

Before heading to the team bus, Ayton shook the hand of every single reporter who asked him questions and cemented himself as the best interview of the preseason. Oh yeah, the kid can also play: He's averaged 20.5 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 30 minutes per game so far this preseason.

Which begs the question: Why isn't Ayton the Rookie of the Year favorite?

Just 20 years old, Ayton is considered one of the most NBA-ready players in the 2018 draft class -- it's not like he's some project who's two years away from being two years away (shout out Bruno Caboclo). He produced in college and has produced in the preseason, yet he's still playing second fiddle to Luka Doncic in the Rookie of the Year odds. Ayton has closed the gap since July, but the Slovenian is still ahead of him according to most gambling services.

2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year odds

Luka Doncic, Mavericks

+333

Deandre Ayton, Suns

+375

Collin Sexton, Cavaliers

+500

Kevin Knox, Knicks

+750

Marvin Bagley, Kings

+1100

Trae Young, Hawks

+1100

Wendell Carter Jr., Bulls

+1100

Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies

+1200

Part of the reason has to do with Doncic, who reached unprecedented levels of international success as a 19-year-old earlier this year. In the modern NBA, a player of Doncic's skill set and resume has fans and analysts salivating. But part of it might be that the public (people who bet) simply don't yet know how good Ayton already is. The Suns zeroed in on the big man early in the draft process, which meant the mystery, debate and analysis were left for the rest of the prospects.

Will Doncic's skills translate to the NBA? Can Trae Young turn into the Steph Curry-Steve Nash hybrid the Hawks hope he will be? Will the raw athleticism and skills of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mohamed Bamba turn them into the NBA's next unicorns? Will Wendell Carter Jr. be the sleeper teams regret passing over?

It's as if being a known commodity has somehow worked to Ayton's disadvantage.

Some felt it was a bit arcane to select Ayton, a traditional NBA center by most measures, first overall in a league where 3-point shooting and defensive versatility are at a premium. But those criticisms will be thrown out the window if (when?) Ayton starts consistently making 3s and improves his footspeed and technique to be able to switch onto smaller players defensively without being completely exposed. In the meantime, however -- even if those things never happen -- Ayton is already an exquisitely polished scorer, rebounder and shot blocker.

Despite the common first name, this isn't DeAndre Jordan. Ayton is so much more than a rim-runner and lob threat, and he's proven it consistently in the preseason with an array of post moves -- a rare skill in today's NBA -- whether it's a jump hook, a counter to a reverse or what already appears to be an automatic face-up jumper.

Post-ups have been phased out of NBA offenses because of their inefficiency, but if Ayton can continue his high finishing rate (1.08 points per possession on post-ups this preseason according to Synergy), he'll command double teams and help kick head coach Igor Kokoskov's new offense into gear.

On top of that, Ayton has been the best roll man in the NBA this preseason, converting 10 of 13 attempts, according to Synergy. He has the size, agility and athleticism to be a daunting lob threat, but has also shown the ability to finish through contact and use a quick bounce after the catch to dunk before the defense can recover. He also has a knack for knowing when to slip the screen, which will only improve with experience.

Kokoskov sees Ayton as more than just a post-up player and roll man, however, as he expects his franchise center to do a lot more playmaking from various positions on the court. Ayton can not only help find shooters like Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza and Ryan Anderson, but he can also dump off passes to cutters like Josh Jackson and T.J. Warren to take advantage of their slashing skills.

"He's definitely one of our best playmakers," Kokoskov said before Phoenix's win against the Warriors. "We're gonna run our offense through him, not just necessarily as a post presence, but he's capable of catching the ball at the high post and top of the key and playmake for us. So he'll kind of give us good angles and a funnel to attack the paint and to shoot 3s. He's gonna be a very, very important piece of our offense."

And while Ayton has certainly had his lapses on defense, the effort seems to be there so far -- and his shot-blocking ability should help a Suns team that allowed 47.1 points in the paint per game last season, 22nd in the NBA. It's also encouraging that nearly all of Ayton's blocks have come against the man he's guarding, which means he's not leaving his man wide open under the basket while hunting off-ball blocks (we'll call that the Hassan Whiteside special).

"There's a lot of pressure on me right now, especially when coach put a little bit more pressure, saying I'm the alpha dog and the anchor of the defense," Ayton said. "You just gotta always stay efficient and and always bring it every day -- never have a bad day. I'm not saying I'm perfect, you know? Just having that goal to have a good day and just be efficient is a good way to go."

Efficiency is the main reason why Ayton was my pick for NBA Rookie of the Year. While Doncic tries to adapt to the NBA style and is forced to depend on his teammates to finish his assists, Ayton is a walking double-double machine who should be able to get his numbers every night.

By no means am I guaranteeing Ayton will be a better player than Doncic, this year or in the future, but he should put up stats that give him a strong Rookie of the Year case no matter how poorly the Suns perform.