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After reaching a buyout agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers, DeAndre Ayton becomes a top free-agent center ahead of the busiest time of the year for NBA executives. One of the few teams mentioned as early as a potential suitor is the Los Angeles Lakers, whom ESPN's Kendrick Perkins agrees could help LeBron James and Luka Doncic, or check out at the first sign of trouble. It's entirely up to Ayton.
Ayton's skillset and reliability are two very different things that don't always go hand in hand, Perkins said, per ESPN's First Take.
“The word around the league is not good about DeAndre Ayton. The Portland Trail Blazers were happy as hell that they got to this point with him,” Perkins said. “Right now he's been labeled as a diva, as a cancer in the locker room, and if I'm DeAndre Ayton, I gotta have a moment. I gotta have someone speak the real to me because we're talking about a former number one pick that didn't work out with the Phoenix Suns, the team that drafted him number one.”
For Perkins, Ayton's next stop could be his final chance.
“When you have guys like DeAndre Ayton, you believe that things can happen to you. And I believe that he's one situation away, the next situation, or next organization that he lands in, even if it's the Lakers, he has to change a lot about himself, or he will find his career being shortened, and he will find himself out of the league,” Perkins added. “But can DeAndre Ayton help the Lakers? Absolutely, because Luka thrives in the lob threat. DeAndre Ayton can be a lob threat.
“When DeAndre Ayton is locked in, he's focused, he's losing himself in the team, he's a hell of a player. Double-double. The problem is that it hasn't been the case,” Perkins concluded.
"The word around the league is not good about Deandre Ayton… right now he's been labeled as a diva, as a cancer in the locker room… he has to change a lot about himself or he will find his career being shortened."
– Kendrick Perkins 😳pic.twitter.com/YJxhDgdWt4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 30, 2025
DeAndre Ayton's poor reputation with the Trail Blazers
Shortly after the buyout was announced, Lakers fans were quick to recruit DeAndre Ayton to their team, a move that ESPN's Kendrick Perkins cautions against, based on Ayton's tenure with the Trail Blazers.
“Came off as selfish, unreliable, so many stories that were put out there last season that I just couldn't believe,” Perkins said. “He was backed up in traffic. Something happened where he couldn't get out of his driveway. I was like, man, c'mon man. What are we talking about?”
Perkins also added that Ayton couldn't get along with Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.
