Deandre Ayton made waves recently when he expressed his frustrations regarding his role for the Los Angeles Lakers. He was heard saying that the Lakers were turning him into “Clint Capela”, as if that was a bad thing on its own.
It seems as though Ayton wants a bigger role in the Lakers offense instead of being relegated to a roll man/dive option for the likes of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James to utilize. But Ayton hasn't shown nearly enough consistency to warrant that kind of involvement in the Lakers offense.
Capela has known his role from day one and tried to be the best version of himself as he can be. And from retired big man Channing Frye's perspective, he urged the Lakers center to do the same in a fiery rant on the Road Trippin' Show.
“Deandre Ayton is a master of nothing. In what world do I throw Deandre Ayton the basketball when I have f**king Austin Reaves, LeBron, and Luka. Stop it. You’re going to get JJ Redick fired. Who is running those plays? When have you seen consistency from the man? You’ve never seen it. So him saying, ‘They want me to be Clint Capela.’ Yeah b***h, he’s averaging a double double the majority of his career,” Frye said.
Deandre Ayton has got to buy into his role for the Lakers
Ayton's offensive game hasn't developed enough to the point that he can be a consistent night to night option for the Lakers. He might be better off trying to help the Lakers win however he can instead of wanting to do it his way.
The 27-year-old big man has flourished in the past in a winning team, as he was the starting center of a team that was two wins away from winning the title. So it's not like he doesn't know what it takes to win. It just might be time for him to look in the mirror and accept that he just might not be “him”.
