Implementing a new starter to a roster is always a challenge. That’s a very important role and that person typically plays a lot with your most important players.
So it’s no surprise that in DeAndre Ayton’s
first regular season start with the Lakers, things didn’t go as smoothly as possible.
Not only did the Lakers lose to the Warriors at home, but Ayton’s production was well below his typical numbers. He ended the night with just 10 points and six rebounds in his 34 minutes of play. Last season, he averaged 16.4 points and 10.2 rebounds while playing 30 minutes per contest.
After the loss, Luka Dončić put the onus on himself to help get Ayton more involved on the offensive side of the ball.
“I think I have to do a better job just talking to him, like what I want, what he wants,” Luka said postgame. “I didn’t get him enough touches probably, so that was on me today. I got to help him out.”
The numbers back up Luka’s claim. Ayton was very efficient on his shot attempts, going 5-7 from the field. However, that’s nowhere near enough for him to be as effective as possible. Typically, Ayton has at least 12.4 shot attempts per game.
With Luka being the team’s primary ball handler, it’s all about him getting chemistry with Ayton in the pick-and-roll. Luka finding the spots where Ayton wants the ball and ensuring he gets them there will be the key to this duo’s combined success.
“I think he prefers that pocket pass,” Luka said. “I didn’t play with a center like that. I think he prefers the pocket. Like I said before, we need to talk about it and then we need to get him more touches.”
Luka is used to having veritcal threats like Jaxson Hayes and while Ayton scores inside he tends to do it within 10 feet of the rim and on jump shots.
How Ayton moves as a big is very different from Hayes and he hasn’t had the reps with Luka yet to master that synergy.
“I’m so used to the league having that low man on me,” Ayton said. “Sometimes I can’t even finish a roll and I tiny bit linger around the free throw area just to be available for [the ballhandler] and there’s times where I could finish my roll. We got to play against some more great teams like we did tonight to really see what’s the common coverage of these teams.”
It’s not just the Luka and Ayton tandem that needs work together. Austin Reaves also has to get acclimated with LA’s new big,
“I mean, I have five turnovers tonight and a couple of them were just dumb, but a couple of them were just miscommunications on where I needed to throw a pass to [Ayton],” Austin Reaves said. “Like it wasn’t the wrong read. It was the wrong pass at the right time, basically.”
With multiple new pieces and LeBron James out for now, it’s going to take some time for the Lakers to gel and optimize Ayton.
The good news is he did okay with the opportunites he was given, the team’s ball handlers are aware they have work to do and the season has just begun.
Now they just need to start putting it all together so that Deandre can start DominAyton.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.