Deandre Ayton will have every opportunity to thrive in Los Angeles this year.
After being bought out of his Blazers contract this summer, he joined the Lakers, expressing a desire to return to the form
that made him one of the most promising young centers in the NBA. He’ll certainly be given that chance and if you can’t play well alongside LeBron James and Luka Dončić, then it might be time to pick a new vocation.With training camp set to start, Lakers head coach JJ Redick, speaking at his de facto
media day presser on Thursday, is already salivating at the thought of Luka and Ayton working with each other in pick-and-roll actions.
“Deandre has been in here the last couple weeks playing with the guys and just super impressed by his size, his agility, his hands,” Redick said. “I think he’s going to make a wonderful pick-and-roll partner for Luka.”
Luka is one of the best passers in the NBA, so if anyone is going to maximize Ayton’s size and dominance, it’s going to be him. We saw last year that Luka was able to make Hayes look incredible running pick and rolls with him.
Whatever questions one might have regarding Ayton, he’s clearly better than Hayes, so he should play even better in that same situation.
The pick and roll remains one of the most common plays in basketball, so the relationship between your primary ball handler and his roller is crucial to team success. Pick-and-rolls not only create mismatches and shots near the rim, but they can also open up spacing for other players around the perimeter.
With Luka playing the two-man game with Ayton and Redick focused on winning games with Deandre as the starting center, he’ll have every opportunity to succeed in Los Angeles.
The time is now for Ayton to take advantage of Luka’s passing ability, his coaches’ eagerness to put them into action together and show his doubters that he has more to give to this game.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
