After airing his displeasure last month with the way the Lakers were using him, Deandre Ayton now says he’s fully committed to succeeding in his role and helping the team win, writes Dan Woike of The Athletic. Since returning from a brief bout with knee soreness, Ayton has been stringing together productive outings and has been a factor in L.A.’s six-game winning streak.
“I’ve completely … I bought in,” he said. “Completely, like 110 percent. I hope you see the work.”
Woike notes that coach JJ Redick‘s reliance on Ayton fluctuates from night to night, as he sometimes closes games with Jaxson Hayes or Maxi Kleber in the middle or goes without a traditional center. The Lakers have been asking Ayton to accept a smaller role on offense than he had in his other NBA stops. His primary responsibilities are to work hard on defense, attack the boards on both ends and blend into the offense by setting screens and rolling to the basket.
The limitations of that role caused him to declare three weeks ago, “They’re trying to make me Clint Capela,” but Woike states that Ayton has been learning how to make an impact on the game without being a primary scorer.
“I scratched that, I took that out,” Ayton said. “I said … when it comes to scoring, we don’t need that. We need you to put that energy what you have for offense and into defense. I just started looking in the mirror and said ‘Yo bro, … you’re not that guy. You don’t need to be on this team doing that at all. This team, you came here to be the effort guy and close out possessions, rebound. Run the damn floor hard as hell, make bigs work, make superstars work.’ And I’m having fun with it.”
The first pick in the 2018 draft, Ayton wasn’t able to achieve stardom during his five seasons in Phoenix or two years in Portland. He was ready for a fresh start after reaching a buyout agreement with the Trail Blazers last summer and signed with the Lakers for $8.1MM this season and the same amount as a player option for 2026/27.
Ayton relishes the thought of returning to the playoffs for the first time in three years, even if it’s in a reduced role.
“I really like that the team is trusting me, man,” he added. “I just don’t want to lose the trust, bro. That’s really what’s getting my juices going and me biting my fingernails waiting to get back in the damn game for real. Just getting back to having fun — I’m not gonna lie.”
lol sure buddy. Are you trying to hit FA and make more than 8m? C’mon now.
Rinse and repeat. He said the same things in Portland. He’ll randomly go MIA in a week or two.
The funniest part is he could have stayed in Portland, stinking it up for a similar amount of money (he’s getting buyout money as well as the money the Lakers are paying him). The only difference would have been he would have had less eyes on him, and he’d have more excuses for sucking, because then he’d have the ghost of Jrue Holiday and Denicide throwing him passes on a below .500 team as opposed to Luka and LeBron throwing him passes on a team that’s competing for the 6th seed.
Aww, that’s adorable.
A former number one overall pick in his 8th season becoming an elite role player to help an NBA legend win his 4th (non-Mickey Mouse) ring? I’ve seen this before.
He’s officially Clint Capella
still worse than Clint
Clint won a chip ….
2020-21 season led NBA 14.3 rebounds per game. That same season, he also topped the league in total rebound percentage (26.1%) and offensive rebound percentage (17.5%)
Ayton ain’t no Clint yet lol .
Clint won a chip? LMAO
I woke you up. Huh … thanks for the info
Two Finals appearances East n West.
Got nothing to say about Raynaud schooling Wemby. Why is it you let the Wagoneers diss Raynaud. Not very Kingly of you.
As a reminder, Ayton said some very similar things at the beginning of the season. In an interview after a preseason game with Dave McMenamin, he said:
Ayton on his preseason debut: “I wanted to show the team I’m more committed on the defensive end, more than offense… I’m not here for numbers. I’m just here for whatever the Lakers really want me to do.”
So he said he was going to focus more on defense and do whatever the Lakers needed before the season even started. Then he didn’t do it. In other words, this new report is just more hot air from Ayton. He’ll make some plays here and there because he is very talented, but his basketball IQ is one of the lowest in the league and his effort frequently matches it.
Less talk, more ball.
Lebron has never played with anyone like Luka while also having Austin. Yeah he was with Wade and Kyrie Irving but he never had 2 other teammates who attack better than he does. Look at that pic on espn where he’s just staring at Luka like “omg this is my shot.” Once LeBron is gone, the Lakers can heal.