Deandre Ayton is about as far as a fan favorite as one can get in his previous stops. The Phoenix Suns shipped him out for depth pieces. The Portland Trail Blazers decided that buying him out was worth it. And through his first game or so as a member of his newest team, the Los Angeles Lakers, fans were already starting to give up on him, citing effort issues and general lethargy on the court.
But the Lakers need him now more than ever; with Luka Doncic joining LeBron James on the mend and Gabe Vincent looking like he's headed for a multi-game absence, the Purple and Gold needs someone to step up alongside Austin Reaves. That's exactly what Ayton did on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings, as he put up his best game as a Laker, dropping 22 points, 15 boards, a steal, and a block in a 127-120 win.
Reaves just needed someone to take a bit of offensive load off of him amid his career-best 51-point outing, and Ayton provided some relief. It does look like the Lakers' trolling of Ayton is working, as the team's starting center admitted that the negative motivation he's been getting from teammates is getting him riled up to the point that he simply wants to be at his best on the court at all times.
“They be trying to get me ticked off before these games, just to get me rolling. … This is a thing y'all want to do. Y'all want to get me on edge. Y'all want me fired up. I like it. … They always messing with me, just talking to me. … It's just trolling. They love my reactions over there. I be caught off guard with some of them. But I love it, man, trust me. It's just making me play hard when it counts now,” Ayton said in his postgame presser, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“They be trying to get me ticked off before these games, just to get me rolling.” Deandre Ayton, after putting up 22 pts and 15 reb against the Kings, explains how his teammates sometimes “troll” him to get him riled up. He says it helps him perform better and it shows they care. pic.twitter.com/5gxvDmaTMB
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 27, 2025
Has Deandre Ayton found his groove for the Lakers?
Ayton's stock was at all-time low, which is why he was available for the Lakers to sign on the midlevel exception. (He didn't even get the entirety of their MLE.) But there might not be a better place for him to rehab his value, as he's now playing alongside three exceptional playmakers in Doncic, James, and Reaves.
Perhaps a revenge game is in the cards for Ayton; the Lakers will be facing the Portland Trail Blazers tomorrow night on the second of a back-to-back set, and that matchup will be personal for the 27-year-old big man.
