The Trail Blazers have reached an agreement on a contract buyout with veteran center Deandre Ayton, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter).
Ayton had been about to enter the final season of a four-year, maximum-salary contract, which was set to pay him $35.5MM in 2025/26. The amount he’s giving up in the buyout has not yet been reported.
The Blazers have drafted centers in the first round of both 2024 (Donovan Clingan) and 2025 (Hansen Yang) and will use this opportunity to clear rotation minutes for their young big men. Portland also still has Robert Williams and Duop Reath under contract, though Williams has only played 61 games over the last three seasons due to health issues.
Ayton averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, both of which were tied for career lows, in 30.2 minutes per night this past season. He only made 40 appearances while dealing with a calf strain that kept him out of the lineup for much of the second half of the season.
Once he clears waivers, Ayton will become an unrestricted free agent and will have the ability to sign with any NBA team. The Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a rule prohibiting teams operating above either tax apron from signing a waived player who had been earning more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, but that restriction only applies during the regular season.
Ayton joins a free agent center group headlined by Myles Turner, Brook Lopez, Clint Capela, and Al Horford. The Lakers are the team most consistently linked to free agent centers and will likely become a top team to monitor for Ayton.
One team that will not be pursuing a partnership with Ayton is Phoenix, according to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Bourguet reports, via Twitter, that the Suns have no interest in a reunion with their 2018 first overall pick, who helped them reach the 2021 NBA Finals.
LA bound? What is Portland doing LOL. They couldnt even get a 2nd rounder for Ayton and they took on Holidays deal from the Celtics and they gave a 2nd rounder to do so.
Yeah, I mean on an expiring, you’d think someone would take a shot. It doesn’t seem like they know what they’re doing.
This new CBA sucks in my opinion.
You don’t think they tried to move him??
Because most of the time when your matching 34M you have to give up some pretty good players. Unless your sending some terrible contract back. Other than Beals I cant think of any deal over 25M a team would want to jettison just to roll the dice on Ayton when they probably assume he will be bought out anyways.
Not as many bad contracts as there used to be, and you would be probably giving up something better than Ayton to match his money.
I can think of one: Jrue Holiday. Everyone thought the Celtics would have to add some sweetener to move Holiday. Instead of giving away Simons AND two seconds, just try to swap Ayton for Holiday and Hauser, or something like that. It’s conceivable Boston would have accepted, since that would have reduced their payroll more or less the same as with the Simons-Holiday trade.
Who’s going to give up anything for the pleasure of paying Ayton $35 million? Portland would have had to either attach picks or take back a bad contract in return.
People were just talking about what a mistake the Suns made by letting him go just the other day lol.
No they made a mistake giving Bridges/Cam who will probably bring back 6 1sts by themselves and 4 1sts with a second and 2 swaps if I remember for KD. Then they took back the worst contract in the NBA in Beal for all the assets they had left.
Comparatively the Ayton swap actually brought back Allen who has been useful, so not so bad.
My first surprised
Nobody wants him?
Lakers for MLE?
id like to see ayton with Luka hope lakers pick him up especially if DFS Gone to the rockets
Rob Pelinka is still sleeping. By the time he wakes up, ayton is long gone…😆😆
Seems terrible with Luka. Ayton loves to do those 8-12 foot jump hooks and such he is allergic to finishing at the rim. He cant stretch the floor or pop really and isnt so much a lob threat as an iso paint scorer.
Beggars cant be choosers. Lakers has no cap space to offer.
Maybe now there won’t be any more proposed trades on this site that treat him like a desirable asset. Of course, maybe not. Anyway, he was traded to POR as a negative asset, and he remains so. The buyout is a suprise only because of the size of his deal and that it’s expiring.
What. Good pick up for anyone as a rental.
Ayton to the Heat?
It won’t start there with Bam and Ware.
Sounds like they just don’t want to take salary back
Lakers
Perfect situation for Ayton.
Gets to hit FA a year early while still collecting this years money from Portland.
Lots of teams looking for a centre and not many good names on the market. He will be able to either command a good sized contract or take less with the goal of helping a team win a championship.
Lakers are obviously a front runner considering they want someone younger and more athletic in the middle to pair with Luka although they might not have a heap of money to offer.
Could be a back up option for Indy if Turner gets to expensive in which case he gets paid well and is on a contender.
But there’s also the likes of Boston, Atlanta maybe, Charlotte, Chicago maybe, GSW, maybe Memphis, maybe New Orleans.
the knock on Ayton is his work ethic, and Indy’s style of play doesn’t accommodate passengers. not sure it’s a good fit
Nah I doubt it is just airing out potential suitors. But I Turner gets up around 35 or something then offering Ayton a cool 15 saves them 20 plus the tax bill and what not
Wish Pacers would grab him for cheaper than Turner on a short term deal and then grab a Schroeder or Tyus Jones to play some point with Hali out the year.
Both of them together would be less than Turner and at least Ayton will actually rebound vs hang out at the 3-point line the whole game.
Turner is soooooo much better than Ayton. Every team in the NBA is trying to find a 3pt shooting big whos good at defense, and you want your team to let theres walk for nothing to get back a failed negative value 1st overall that is terrible for the teams system so you can bring in a couple guys at least one of which probably will sign for the min.
Chappy…I agree, especially for Indy. Myles unlocks so many guys for the pacers with his style of play.
Yeaaaaah… there’s a reason that Phoenix said goodbye to both of them. Ayton’s missing a motor (and the game today loves stretch fives). Tyus might do better somewhere that doesn’t have Mike Budenholzer coaching, but you’ve got to make up for his lack of defense. He tops out as a great backup PG.
Tyus is one of those great backups that can be your bench guard, but occasionally when injuries force it he can start for a couple weeks and not kill you
@icecreamsocialist – great take. Ayton in theory would make sense in Golden State, but he just doesn’t have the motor that even Brook Lopez or Luke Kornet have, so I wouldn’t want him there. Plus GSW value the stretch 5 harder than anyone.
They got their national team back, they should stock up this year, get a good prospect and come back stronger next year with Hali recovered
Think Nembhart will cover for Hali at the 1 really well and then at the 2 it opens the door for Mathurin to really do something. Not to mention you have TJ and Sheppard there as back ups aswell.
Yep. I floated Hali trade, people laughed. Nembhart is 100% the type of point I want. Each to their own. Dream backcourt for me is Nembhart and D white.
So Portland trades for 50 year old Jrue Holiday and then releases their best center to save some money… so weird.
Man, does this guy sound like a laker or what
Forget what’s wrong here. Or what is really going on. His numbers aren’t bad. He hasn’t lived up to expectations is true. But you could have gotten some value for him. Especially at draft. Seems like a bad business move here. Even if this guy has a bad attitude or character. You could have used his value in draft. For picks or to move up. Wow I’m really interested to see what went wrong. I liked him a lot in his draft. Life huh !!!! I’m shocked
If he wants press and get his act together. He goes to LA. There he will have to perform. And get his career back. If he cares !!! Warriors and Lakers need him most. Probably go to Charlotte lols …
Can’t believe they bought him out …
I think you nailed it. This has classic Hornets move stamped on it already.
You’re not smarter than everyone in the world-who the hell would give anything for this bum? Obviously no one. They’ve been looking to trade him for 2 yrs
Are you another Davey J? Or perhaps a Davey J off spring, lols.
Hornets just traded Williams and Nurkic and before then Richards. They didn’t go after Maluach in the draft either.
I know the negatives in relation to work ethic and what not but the numbers he produces are good.
Going strictly off potential, he’d be a great fit with the Hornets. Melo Knueppel Miller and Ayton as your young core. If they moved off Bridges for a more defensive 4 then this would actually be a strong playoff side in the East.
Sexton as a sixth man, Josh Green, Grant Williams there aswell. Be a borderline contender in a few years if they got some proper coaching and development happening
Ayton is good but doesn’t have the desire or killer instinct to get better. He’s content on doing what he does on the court.
Reminds of Emeka Okafor.
Good comp
GSW
Indiana wanted him years ago. They were the team that gave him the max offer sheet, which the Suns had to match. It was one of the pieces that contributed to Phoenix’s current situation.
Will Indiana go for him now? The timing is bad with Haliburton’s injury, though.
Knicks?
I wouldn’t be mad about it. Him and Mitch manning the 5, Kat at the 4.
Knicks need Horford in my opinion. Ditch Precious. Not a knock, it’s just a better fit. Speaking of, Precious may come cheat atm. I’m a celtics fan and I’m not mad at all if Horford is running out at MSG.
Smart on the Blazers, he’ll land with the Lakers on a min contract and the Blazers will miraculously land the 1st overall pick next year.
LAL is the most logical place for him to land, straight contenders with him.