Beyond the imposing 3-0 deficit they face after a trio of blowout losses, the biggest concern for the Lakers in their series with Oklahoma City might be the uninspired performance of Deandre Ayton, Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times writes in a subscriber-only piece.
L.A. was counting on Ayton to help neutralize OKC’s big front line, but he only played 24 minutes on Saturday, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds. He’s shooting 39.3% in the series after connecting at 60.4% during the regular season and was just 3-of-11 in the restricted area during the first two games.
Head coach JJ Redick pulled Ayton from Game 3 after a sequence that saw the Thunder collect three offensive rebounds within 19 seconds, ending with a foul when he shoved Ajay Mitchell on a drive to the basket. Redick didn’t want to reinsert Jaxson Hayes, who was ineffective in the 8:30 of playing time he got on Saturday, so he turned to rookie forward Adou Thiero to patrol the middle. The Lakers surrendered another offensive rebound off a free throw after Thiero entered the game, and Nguyen observes that Hayes “stared blankly ahead and shook his head slowly” with his arms folded across his chest.
It’s a frustrating repeat of last year’s playoffs, when Redick eventually opted to play without a center in a first-round loss to Minnesota. Ayton was signed last summer to fix the issue and was mostly effective during the regular season and the series against Houston. However, his meltdown against a superior OKC team raises questions about whether he’s a long-term solution. He holds an $8.1MM player option for next season, with a decision due by June 29.
“DA is a hell of a player,” Marcus Smart said after Saturday’s loss. “We all know it. We just want to get him the touches and get him the feel early, just to give them a different look. … All the guards are doing their thing. So we’re just trying to get the big fella involved.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- It looks like L.A. will be eliminated before Luka Doncic has a chance to return from his hamstring injury, which is bad news for the future as well as the current season, notes Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required). Without their top player, it’s hard for the Lakers to gauge exactly how far away they are from being able to compete with the Thunder. “Look, yeah, when you have the league’s leading scorer out there – if he was – it definitely changes the dynamic of a team,” Luke Kennard said. “Obviously, we miss him. And we know he’s working his butt off right now [to return to play] … but yeah, I mean, he would definitely change it for us. But right now, he’s not.”
- LeBron James looked old and tired as OKC seized control of the game in the third quarter, contends Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required). James played nearly 11 minutes in the quarter, but finished with just one made shot, no rebounds and a minus-13 rating.
- Redick may be out of answers as he tries to match up with the league’s deepest team, suggests Nick Friedell of The Athletic. The Thunder have pummeled the Lakers in the second half of all three games and have clear talent advantages throughout the roster. “Typically, if you can poke holes in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution or can sort of adjust maybe a little bit,” Redick said. “This team in-game, because of their personnel, can just adjust like that. They need shooting on the floor? Great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor? Great. They need two bigs on the floor? Great.”
The Lakers roster needs a whole overhaul like the Nuggets only Luka should be safe
Yes, this is the way to go. Lakers could have over $80 million of cap space, plus the $9 million room exception this off-season to sign new players. If they sign and trade Reeves, they could leverage that to add an additional $15-20 million of salary on top of that. So in total the Lakers could add over $100 million of new contracts around Luka, if they choose to go that way.
The always talk about LBJ’s age. It’s like an infatuation that never let go. People, age is a number until not and LBJ no matter his age is still playing and playing well for where he stands right now, period 🤓
If we take off the LeBron glasses, not really.
Age is not just a number of course. That’s just plain silly. 41 may be smarter, but it is less athletic. Having said that, James remains a very fine player, elite if you are given to liking the Lakers or James himself, and well above average if you are a fan in general.
It’s a crazy time when a guy can average 22, 5, & 5 and people say he should quit the game… that he’s washed up.
90% of the league would be wanting a new multi-year extension with max money if they averaged those numbers.
People like to say Father Time is undefeated.
Nah… he’s well over .500, but definitely not undefeated.
Crazy time indeed jump shot
I defend LeBron against the haters so I get your frustration but he’s 41 – that is old for what he’s doing and he’d be the first to tell you he can’t carry this team like he used to.
That said if Luka is playing it’s still 3-0 OKC.
Lakers are such a disaster and Denver should’ve been smarter and not taken the 3rd seed. Fire your coach and GM, trade Ayton after he picks up option and keep Smart.
If they can grab a center quick enough to be an assumed starter, maybe Ayton would be compelled to walk vs do a “contract” year off the bench? Would be nice for LBJ to ride off into the sunset with his cap space, page is turned.
I don’t think you get it pick what seed you finish in. So saying Denver wasn’t smart for picking 3rd makes you come off not smart
What he means is that if Denver had tanked the last game of the year they’d have swapped places with Lakers. The decision to play Jokic was discussed widely in the media so maybe don’t refer to people as not smart.
At what point in Ayton’s career has his play ever appeared inspired?
He’s inspired like Julius Erving about once every dozen games, and inspired more like Julius the Haberdashery guy the other 11 games.
Reeves
Luka
Those two are the only players worth bringing back next year.
Rui and Kennard are the same player. Neither rebounds and plus defense. Both are excellent shooters though. Smart is old they need to find some youth at the guard position. Also need a big man who isn’t allergic to rebounding. I can see maybe making a trade for Wendell Carter JR.
I had OKC in 5 but Lakers are just not a roster filled with smart players. Ball Iq still matters in this league.
LA fan doesn’t know what to do when they can’t buy a Championship.
Plaschke has phoned in this take for decades. If an LA team is good, they’re the best in human history. If they aren’t they’re a subhuman species and should be taken out and shot.
He’s an absolute hack
Ask any Suns fan about Ayton. They’ll tell you that what he showed in LA is exactly who he is – lackadaisical, unmotivated, and inconsistent.
Imagine expecting full health from Doncic and full effort from Ayton literally ever. Good thing Lakers didn’t do anything foolish like that…