The Lakers’ big three features LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. These are the team’s top scorers, ball-handlers and playmakers. Everyone else has to fit into some kind of role to help this
trio succeed.
Early on, Deandre Ayton is figuring out how to do that. For Ayton, as the LA’s starting center, he has a lot of responsibilities. He needs to provide the Lakers with vertical spacing, a scoring presence inside, rim protection and be an elite pick-and-roll partner with Austin Reaves and Luka.
That’s a ton of things one must get right, but Ayton put it all together in a win against the Wolves.
Ayton ended the game with 15 points, eight rebounds and a block. Those raw numbers show his production, but it was in the game’s details where he really shined.
“[Ayton] was great, head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “I thought his patience for the game was really good. By that [I mean], Luka getting it going early, being the beneficiary of [Ayton] screening at times. Get into halftime, I thought [Ayton] was playing really well. You look up, he’s got three shots. He really just kind of let the offense come to him throughout that second half and then defensively, he was really good as well.”
In the first half, Ayton often worked as a screener for Luka. His commitment to screening with no promise of a reward for the basketball helped get Dončić going and establish the Lakers’ offense.
If Ayton can continue to screen and roll hard regardless of his numbers, that really maximizes the offense and the team’s potential.
As the game progressed, the ball eventually found him. Luka fed him a nice lob, Ayton was able to pull Rudy Gobert away from the rim and score over him in the paint regularly and the LA was able to beat Minnesota.
Games like this are why the Lakers signed Ayton this summer. He gives this team a traditional post threat that they didn’t have last season. If he stays on top of the details, then he’ll have a great year in Los Angeles.
This Wolves game provides a blueprint Ayton can regularly duplicate. Now, he just needs to replicate it.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
