Deandre Ayton had one of his best games as part of the Los Angeles Lakers when they faced off against the Orlando Magic, finishing with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Though they still lost, Ayton showed what he could do when he is involved in the offense, which leads to him being more active on the other side of the ball.
After the game, Ayton was asked if he thinks his effort is being recognized by his teammates.
“The ball finds energy,” Ayton said via ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “They believe in me when I'm down there and sealing and they see me running hard to the rim and crashing, they reward me.”
After doing media, Ayton walked to the showers and shouted, “They're trying to make me Clint Capela.”
That seemed to be a reference to how Capela has been used throughout most of his career, which is a rim-running, lob threat who can grab rebounds at a high level. Ayton is basically saying he has more than that in his game, and he'd probably like to be utilized more to his strengths.
Unfortunately for Ayton, his role on the Lakers is more like Capela's role, according to a team source.
“When he's at his best, and we've seen it, we've seen glimpses of it, he's playing with force,” the team source said. “And that's playing with great force on both ends of the floor when it comes to screening. Then rolling and putting pressure on the rim; [when the] shot goes up, crashing the glass; sprinting back in transition; loading to the basketball; calling out your communication; being in the right positioning; contesting shots; boxing out. Those things for a big are just really thankless when you're a skilled big. But on this team, that's what his role is.”
With all the other talent on the Lakers such as Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves, it's going to be hard for Ayton to be who he truly believes he is.
