Deandre Ayton has agreed to terms on a two-year contract that will make him the starting center for the Los Angeles Lakers alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James this upcoming season. In signing Ayton, the Lakers take a bit of a gamble on the former No. 1 overall pick that was bought out of the final year of his deal by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Ayton’s talent is undeniable. He’s averaging 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on 59.0% from the field over seven seasons, and was once a pivotal piece in a Finals run from the Phoenix Suns in 2021. However, there have been concerns about the former No. 1 overall pick’s drive, motivation and motor both in Phoenix and in Portland, and some of the advanced metrics back that up.
That’s part of why Ayton went from a four-year, $133 million deal to a reported two-year, $16.6 million deal with L.A. But according to Shams Charania of ESPN, Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin had plenty of good things to say about Ayton when teams called to ask about him:
Ayton finalized a buyout with the Trail Blazers on Sunday night, with his representatives approaching the franchise about his desire to play in a winning situation and understanding the team’s rising number of young centers. Multiple teams reached out to Blazers general manager Joe Cronin to conduct background on Ayton and received strong reviews surrounding Ayton’s leadership and mentoring of big men such as Donovan Clingan.
Ayton spent the last two years on a young Trail Blazers team that was in the midst of a rebuild. And while it could have been easy for the center who had already played in an NBA Finals to say that wasn’t what he wanted and either requested a trade or been difficult to work with, Cronin says he responded by being a leader and mentor.
That doesn’t perfectly match the reputation that Ayton has garnered over the years that isn’t necessarily positive. But perhaps that narrative has been partially rumor-driven or exaggerated. And maybe in a winning situation, he won’t have any of those same issues.
But for Cronin to reportedly speak about Ayton in those terms after granting him a buyout shows that the relationship between the player and the team may have been quite strong.
Luka Doncic excited to play with Deandre Ayton
The No. 1 and No. 3 overall pick from the 2018 NBA Draft are now on the same team with Deandre Ayton joining Luka Doncic on the Lakers. And while gaining Ayton meant losing Dorian Finney-Smith in free agency to the Houston Rockets, Doncic is reportedly still excited about the move.
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