Statistically, Deandre Ayton’s first time on the court in the purple and gold Lakers jersey wasn’t anything to write home about. He finished the game with a very mundane two shot attempts and one point in 18 minutes, offering little impact offensively as LA fell to the Suns.
However, that appears to have been by design from Ayton. On the other end of the court, he grabbed eight rebounds, six of them defensive, with two blocks and a steal as well. Coming in with many preconceived notions of his game,
Ayton spoke postgame about wanting to make a point in his first game.
“I wanted to show the team I’m more committed on the defensive end more than the offensive end,” Ayton said. “Like I said from the get-go, I’m not really here for numbers. I’m just here for whatever the Lakers really want me to do and the main objective is really protecting that rim and closing out our possessions.
“I had fun, man, just blocking some shots today and just being that anchor and seeing how the guys are responding to me just with terminology and stuff like that, just to be out in our offense and create from our defense.”
As has been the case since he signed with the Lakers, this is another case of Ayton saying the right things. His offense this season will largely come as a result of the playmaking from Luka Dončić and LeBron James and neither player was available in the preseason opener.
Instead of trying to assert himself offensively with that opening, it’s encouraging that he instead chose to focus on the defensive side of the ball. He did not try to do too much offensively and work outside of what his role will be this season in regular-season games.
As while it’s fine to keep the guard up about Ayton and walking the walk after talking the talk this summer and preseason, in his first chance to do so, he did take a sensible approach.
Now, there will be a point when he will need to produce statistically and focusing on defense won’t be enough. But, in the preseason, having the right mental approach is more important than anything he could do statistically.
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