The Los Angeles Lakers landed a former No. 1 decide to fill their gap at heart once they agreed to a cope with heart Deandre Ayton on Tuesday. Whereas Ayton has averaged a double-double for his total NBA profession, there are some clear warning indicators in regards to the latest Laker.
Ayton landed a two-year deal price $16.6M after giving again $10M of his $35.6M wage for 2025-26 from the Portland Path Blazers to grow to be a free agent. He definitely fills a necessity for the Lakers, however the workforce ought to mood their expectations, given how his two-year tenure in Portland went.
In line with a report by Jason Quick of The Athletic, Ayton was “unreliable on and off the courtroom” and was “typically benched resulting from effort, resulting in sideline and locker room tantrums.” Ayton performed solely 95 of a potential 164 video games with the Blazers, however he typically blew off the rehabilitation periods to assist him get better from accidents.
In his first season in Portland, Ayton missed one recreation, allegedly as a result of there was too much ice round his home. He was suspended for the primary 25 video games of the 2019-20 season for taking a banned diuretic. And in 2022, ESPN printed a troubling story about how the then-Phoenix Suns large man performed the online game NBA 2K for “a minimum of 4 of 5 hours” daily.
Regardless of drafting him at No. 1 within the 2018 draft, forward of stars like Trae Younger, Jaren Jackson and Ayton’s new teammate Luka Doncic, the Suns had been hesitant to provide Ayton a rookie max extension, even after they reached the NBA Finals in 2021. He needed to get a proposal sheet from the Indiana Pacers, which the Suns matched, then unloaded Ayton on the first likelihood they might.
The Blazers acquired Ayton within the blockbuster commerce that despatched Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, however they soured on him sufficient they drafted facilities within the first spherical of the final two drafts. Now they’re paying him practically $26M to not play for them.
He is definitely higher than the Lakers’ different choices within the center, however after the previous few seasons, it is truthful to query how dedicated Ayton is to basketball. No less than the basketball that is not performed with a controller and a PlayStation.
