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On Sunday night, amid the Portland Trail Blazers' logjam at center, they decided to agree with Deandre Ayton on a contract buyout — sending Ayton to free agency. And just as fate would have it, there is a team in desperate need of a starting-caliber center in the Los Angeles Lakers, who may have just seen their center for next season fall on their lap.
Considering how the Lakers were bludgeoned on the glass and on the interior to end the 2024-25 season, Ayton would be a major addition. His motor runs on and off, but as far as potential pick-and-roll partners for Luka Doncic and LeBron James go, Ayton is their best option in free agency, especially when he's just 26 years of age and would flourish playing alongside quality playmakers in the Purple and Gold.
Lakers fans, ever the hopeful bunch, are already beginning to recruit Ayton to their ranks, hoping that the recently released center is the remedy to their woes at the center position.
“Getting Ayton without giving up assets would be crazy good for the lakers,” X user @Kdee4000 wrote.
“if we don’t see an ayton to lakers announcement at exactly 3PM tomorrow, we f**king riot,” @_shwaay added.
“Best thing about DeAndre Ayton is that he’s proved he is a good player when locked in and can play very well in the playoffs as the starting 5. He’s also only going to be 27 when the season starts next season so he would be a great option as the Lakers long term center,” @dh__32 furthered.
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“Not saying Ayton is the perfect center or acting he’s the best center ever but given the value of a one year deal on the MLE (potentially), that has to be a layup for the Lakers. That’s our best option as a ‘stopgap' C next season that would likely also excite Luka,” @NicholasBaer7 explained.
What are the Lakers cooking?
After Dorian Finney-Smith declined his player option for next season, the Lakers now have access to the full midlevel exception — just in time for their (potential) pursuit of Ayton in free agency.
Of course, using the full MLE on Ayton will prevent the Lakers from dipping into the first apron and might restrict them from keeping Finney-Smith on the roster. Nevertheless, the cap jump means that the first apron is projected to be at $195.6 million, opening up the possibility that they sign Ayton, keep Finney-Smith, and utilize their other trade assets to bring in another major contributor (possibly Andrew Wiggins).
Maybe the Lakers could even pursue Chris Paul, the Ayton whisperer, with the veteran preferring to play for a team in the West Coast.
