Deandre Ayton didn’t get off to the strongest start in the Los Angeles Lakers’ first two preseason games, but in their most recent contest the center gave a nice glimpse of what he is capable of on both sides of the court.
Ayton finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 26 minutes as the Lakers picked up their first win of the preseason over the Golden State Warriors. Most surprising about Ayton’s performance was the assists as the big man is not known for his passing and has never averaged two assists in a season.
But Ayton showed some great decision-making capabilities in that mid-range area and head coach JJ Redick felt he was excellent in operating in that area as a hub for the offense.
“He was really good in the pocket tonight and I think that’s similar to some other bigs,” Redick said after the game. “Him in the pocket is a really good thing and we gotta find him. I think there were opportunities tonight where we didn’t find him, sometimes on the roll, sometimes on the pocket, but he was great. I thought too, just his poise and his patience as like a hub, whether it was playing out of horns or whether it was playing that second side, we just got some really good stuff when he got the ball at the elbow.”
In this contest, Ayton was able to show off his skills operating in the pick-and-roll with the likes of Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent and the results were promising. Ayton being a finisher is expected, but if he can find the open man consistently in these situations it greatly raises the Lakers’ offensive ceiling, even more so when he’s able to operate with Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
That elbow and mid-range spot is where Ayton operates the best as he is also an above-average shooter from that area as well giving him a number of options when he receives the ball there. With LeBron out to start the season, the Lakers will need a bit more from Ayton and based on this performance he could be able to give this squad exactly that.
Deandre Ayton taking pride in protecting rim as Lakers center
One area the Lakers really needed to improve is with their rim protection on the defensive end and new center Deandre Ayton spoke about his desire to be the anchor of this team’s defense.
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