The Lakers discovered their subsequent beginning heart, and so they didn’t have to surrender Austin Reaves to land him.
There’s a purpose why.
As athletic and expert as Deandre Ayton is for a 7-footer, he’s higher identified at this stage of his profession for his shortcomings.
His maddening inconsistency. His uninspired protection. His lack of motivation. His incapacity to remain wholesome.
Portland Path Blazers heart Deandre Ayton shoots below stress from Denver Nuggets heart Nikola Jokic on Feb. 10 in Denver.
(David Zalubowski / Related Press)
If you happen to didn’t like Anthony Davis, you’re going to hate Ayton. Davis was at all times accountable or at very least not tone deaf, which Ayton apparently is.
“I got nothing to prove in this league,” Ayton as soon as informed veteran NBA reporter Mark Medina. “I’m a max player, and I’ll continue to be a max player.”
Little marvel the Portland Path Blazers formally gave up on Ayton in the course of the weekend by shopping for out his contract, opening the door for the Lakers to select him up at a cut price worth.
The Lakers are wagering they’ll do what the Path Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns earlier than them, couldn’t.
They’re betting they’ll begin the engine within Ayton and preserve it roaring.
From a bodily and technical standpoint, Ayton is able to being the participant the Lakers want him to be. Nonetheless, most athletes who don’t have already got one thing burning within them at 26 don’t immediately uncover fireplace at 27, which is how previous Ayton will likely be later this month.
Which is why the Lakers ought to be grateful they nonetheless have LeBron James.
Who higher to point out a continual underachiever methods to maximize his presents than a participant getting ready for a document twenty third season? Conversely, the NBA’s all-time main scorer can’t encourage Ayton, who or what is going to?
The 40-year-old James will give the Lakers an opportunity to achieve Ayton, which, in flip, will give them an opportunity to contend for one more championship.
With their present roster, the Lakers clearly stay behind the NBA champion Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers belong with the following tier of Western Convention groups, alongside the Golden State Warriors and Clippers. That’s kind of the place they had been final season.
The Lakers are nonetheless searching for shooters. They nonetheless have to determine how they’re going to cease anybody. Additionally they want Ayton to be greater than the participant he was in his first seven NBA seasons, even along with his respectable profession averages of 16.4 factors and 10.5 rebounds per recreation.
James will lead by instance. He’ll mannequin the work habits required to be a constant performer. He’ll show an consideration to element that may make Ayton recalibrate how he thinks of the sport.
Reaves has benefited from his proximity to James. So has Rui Hachimura. Then once more, Reaves and Hachimura had been open to such steering. Is Ayton?
Rewiring Ayton’s 27-year-old mind may really feel like a longshot, however contemplate this: Ayton was at his greatest when he performed alongside a robust veteran presence.
Ayton was a third-year participant on the Suns after they acquired a 35-year-old Chris Paul earlier than the 2020-21 season. With Ayton taking part in a starring position, the Suns went on to achieve the NBA finals, the place they misplaced to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, heart, talks with heart Deandre Ayton, left, throughout a playoff recreation in opposition to the Clippers in April 2023.
(Matt York / Related Press)
The postseason run provided an instance of how Ayton might reply positively to skilled management, in addition to how he could possibly be greatest deployed on the court docket.
The cell Ayton was a harmful menace for Paul, and he ought to be a harmful lob menace for Luka Doncic. The flexibility of Ayton to knock down midrange jumpers spaced the ground for the Suns, and that talent will undoubtedly be exploited by coach JJ Redick.
The X’s and O’s gained’t matter if Ayton doesn’t present as much as play each evening, nevertheless. Ayton presumably agreed to the buyout of his contract as a result of he wished to alter the narrative of his profession. That is his probability. He may have a playmaker in Doncic, a staff with championship aspirations within the Lakers. Maybe most vital, he may have a trainer in James.
