This is a prove-it season for Deandre Ayton and the stage does not get bigger than with the Los Angeles Lakers. As a highly-touted former No. 1 overall pick, Ayton has the talent to be a starting center but has wore out his welcome in his last two homes.
Even at age 27, Ayton knows he is on his last leg of sort and he is welcoming that pressure of playing for the Lakers.
With some new players on the Lakers roster, there is a process of getting to know each other on and off the court to build chemistry.
To help foster that, Luka Doncic organized a team bonding event at Porsche and Ayton was appreciative of the All-NBA guard doing that for the team.
“I truly appreciate Luka for that,” Ayton said. “I’ve never done that before or had one of the star players really look out for the team like that. Something like that is actually crazy, I’ve never heard of it or been in a Porsche before, it was definitely my first time. I ain’t know Luka was into cars like that, him and LeBron. It was good seeing them behind the wheel, seeing LeBron behind a car is crazy.”
These experiences go a long way, especially when preparing for a grueling regular season. Stepping into a new situation with expectations of winning a championship is a challenge, but putting that to the side and having fun with new teammates could help with a mental reset.
For Doncic, he appears to be embracing a leadership role in his first full season with the Lakers. It took some time to get familiar with his new home after last year’s trade, but not the Lakers are fully his team and he is not shying away from that.
Building team chemistry is important, and events like the one at Porsche are a great way to do that early in the season.
Deandre Ayton has stood out to Marcus Smart
A Lakers player who also has a chip on his shoulder is Marcus Smart as he was hampered with injuries the past few seasons. He signed with the Lakers to rehab his value as a winning player and head coach JJ Redick is noticing what he brings to the team through training camp.
Outside of himself, Smart named Deandre Ayton as a player who has stood out to him since camp kicked off and L.A. will need him to be a force at the center position.
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