The Lakers have a new hurdle in their pursuit of a starting center for next year’s team.
Last year’s starter, Deandre Ayton, has reportedly picked up his player option, as first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.
This move is far from a shock. It was reported earlier that Ayton was expected to pick up his player option. Now the Lakers have the option to keep
Ayton or move him to bring in another player.
As a starter last year, he had his fair share of ups and downs. In many clutch-time games, he was benched for Jaxson Hayes. However, the good moments certainly outweighed the bad.
He averaged 12.5 points and 8 rebounds and started in all 72 games he played. One of his best performances in the regular season came in a win over the Spurs. In that contest, Ayton had 22 points, 10 rebounds and outplayed Victor Wembanyama.
In the opening round of the playoffs, Ayton delivered. He shut down Alperen Şengün and helped the Lakers eliminate the Rockets despite playing the entire series without Luka Dončić.
His play declined in the second round against the Thunder. Ayton averaged just 7.3 points and his minutes dipped to 24.6 per game.
Considering how openly the Lakers have been looking for a top center, it seems unlikely that Ayton will remain around. Perhaps he could be a backup option on the team, but he almost certainly won’t be the starter next season and, given his contract, wouldn’t be too hard to move in a trade.
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