LOS ANGELES – Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ disappointing playoff flameout in the opening round last season, it was painfully obvious that their most glaring offseason need was a starting caliber center. After a slow start to the preseason, Deandre Ayton showed that he is the answer for the Lakers up front following their 126-116 win against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
The Lakers came into the offseason with little to no money to spend in free agency, and limited assets in terms of a potential trade. But when Dorian Finney-Smith opted to sign with the Houston Rockets, the Lakers suddenly found themselves armed with a couple of free agent exceptions to improve the roster. When Ayton and the Portland Trail Blazers agreed to a contract buyout, the Lakers had their man.
Deandre Ayton shone bright during the Lakers preseason win against the Warriors, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one blocked shot in 26 minutes. He shot 6- of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. After the game, Rui Hachimura explained the impact that Ayton can have on the Lakers’ offense.
“It’s been like that with Luka [Doncic] and LeBron [James], but he gets a lot of attention too on the offensive side. For him to be on the floor, it’s good for us, especially for me, Vando [Jarred Vanderbilt], Jake [LaRavia], all those guys. We can get those easy looks,” Hachimura said. “Those are the things he can do too in the post. I think for him, he still has to adjust a little bit with our system, but I think it was a good day for all of us to see what he can do.”
Throughout Ayton’s seven-year NBA career thus far, he has always been a borderline All-Star in terms of numbers. This past season, he appeared in 40 games for the Blazers at a little over 30 minutes per game. He averaged 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 blocked shots with splits of 56.6 percent shooting from the field and 66.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Ayton’s best years offensively came with the Phoenix Suns when he was playing with a dynamic playmaker in Chris Paul. Now, he will play alongside three strong playmakers in Doncic, James and Austin Reaves. While Doncic and James did not play during Sunday’s game, Ayton showed flashes of potential chemistry with Reaves as a finisher.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick was pleased with what he saw from Ayton against the Warriors, and remarked how the team could do a better job of finding him for scoring opportunities.
“He was really good in the pocket, and I think that’s similar to some other bigs. Him in the pocket is a really good thing, and we’ve got to find him,” Redick said. “There were opportunities where we didn’t find him, sometimes on the rolls, sometimes on the pocket. But he was great. I thought too, just his poise and his patience as a like a hub, whether he was playing out of horns or playing that second side, you just got some really good stuff when he got the ball at the elbow.”
