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After Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton received conflicting predictions on his new tenure with the Lakers, ESPN's Kendrick Perkins warned the veteran center of the expectations that await. This is a tremendous opportunity alongside LeBron James and Luka Doncic. After Ayton delivered a message to Los Angeles fans and its front office, Perkins reminded Ayton of what was on the line.
For Perkins, this is Ayton's last chance to compete at a high level, he said, per ESPN's Road Trippin.
“He better come in with the right mindset because this could possibly be his [Deandre Ayton] last shot,” Perkins said. “When you look at the bigs around the Western Conference — Jokic, Sengun, Anthony Davis — when they heard the reports the Lakers were signing Deandre Ayton, they want some action, big fella. You got your hands full. So, this should be a moment where you go in and check yourself and say, you know what? I'm about to lock in.”
Ayton, entering his eighth NBA season, still has plenty to prove for Kendrick Perkins.
“People need to see that you're committed in doing the little things, right? You got a tough Western Conference. Forget the league. You've got a great responsibility. You're playing for one of the most historic franchises in sports,” Perkins added. “You got Magic Johnson watching you day to day. You got Big Game, James Worthy. They're watching your a**. You got to go out there and produce, period.
“You gotta go out there and produce at a high level, and you gotta do the little things because you cannot fool this Lakers organization or the Lakers fanbase or the Lakers' gracious because they're gonna call you out,” Perkins concluded.
“He better come in with the right mindset, cause this could possibly be his [Deandre Ayton] last shot.”
Kendrick Perkins gives Deandre Ayton some advice heading into the 25-26 NBA season 👀
(via @RoadTrippinPod)
pic.twitter.com/b1DV54P6ut— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 4, 2025
Deandre Ayton's fit on Lakers gets conflicting views
Lakers center DeAndre Ayton's fit on the Lakers received conflicting opinions from a former Suns and Blazers staffer, per ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
“The former Phoenix staffer is like, ‘This is not going to work.' He's going to do this little half-roll thing. Luka is going to just get fed up with him,” McMahon said. “JJ Redick's going to get driven crazy. This is going to be a disaster.”
The former Blazers staffer begged to differ.
“The former Portland staffer was like, ‘Listen, everything that went wrong in Portland, some of it was on Deandre, some of it was on the organization.’ His feeling, though, was that Ayton's going to understand the situation here. He's not a Max player,” MacMahon added. “He's a guy who's been dumped by two franchises and, as you said, is basically playing on a prove-it deal for the room mid-level here.”
Everyone will have to wait for the upcoming season to unfold.
