The addition of center Deandre Ayton was arguably the most important signing the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. The Lakers were terribly thin up front and Ayton provides them with a big body who cleans the glass and projects as a good pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James.
Ayton’s regular season debut for the Lakers was a bit underwhelming, however, as he finished with just 10 points and six rebounds in the 10-point loss to the Golden State Warriors. Turnovers were an issue as well with Reaves and Doncic combining for eight, while Ayton had four himself as they were all still figuring things out together. And afterwards, Ayton looked at himself as part of the issue in his connection with his Lakers teammates.
“I was realizing, I’m probably a confusing big whether I can roll and stand in the pocket, probably gets a little difficult for them sometimes,” Ayton said after the contest. “I’m so used to having that low man on me. Sometimes I can’t even finish a roll, and I tiny bit linger around the free-throw area just to be available for him.
“There’s times where I can finish my roll. We just gotta play some more and play against some more great teams, like how we did [on Tuesday], to really see what’s the common coverage of these teams, really trying to put us on their personnel, what they got on us.”
It takes time for pairings to really develop that chemistry in the pick-and-roll and Ayton hasn’t had enough yet, particularly with Doncic. But he has proven that he can be successful with a top playmaker and Luka still believes in Ayton and actually put the blame on himself for not getting the big man enough touches against the Warriors.
“I have to do a better job, just talking to him, like what I want, what he wants,” Doncic said. “And I mean, [Tuesday] was on me, not getting him enough touches probably. So that was on me today, I gotta help him.”
Luka would continue, noting that he hasn’t played with a big man with a skillset like Ayton’s. “I think he prefers that pocket pass,” the Lakers superstar added. “I haven’t played with a center like that, I think he prefers the pocket. So like I said before, we need to talk about it and then we need to get him more touches.”
That communication is imperative to success and if Doncic and Reaves can get on the same page with Ayton, this Lakers offense will go to another level.
JJ Redick says Lakers must fix trend of bad third quarters
Another issue for the Lakers against the Warriors was that they came out of halftime terribly, something that has been an issue for this team for years now and a trend that head coach JJ Redick believes they must fix immediately.
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