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Despite the high hopes this for Deandre Ayton after signing a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, he has been a major cause for concern.
The Los Angeles Lakers made the key offseason signing of Deandre Ayton last summer as their new starting center, and through the first two-thirds of the 2025-26 NBA regular season, Ayton hasn’t necessarily lived up to the hype.
While he was bought out of his contract with the Portland Trail Blazers and signed a deal for just $8.1 million with the Lakers this season, Ayton hasn’t been as advertised in Los Angeles so far this year, as he’s been one of their more inconsistent players and has offered little help in terms of defense and rim-protection.
Writing for Bleacher Report, Greg Swartz named Ayton as the sixth-most overrated player in the NBA at the time of the All-Star break.
“There’s a reason why Portland is paying Ayton nearly $27 million this season to play for someone else,” he wrote. “The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft has long frustrated his teams with a lack of motor. Former Suns head coach Monty Williams famously benched him in a Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 playoffs. Now JJ Redick is seeing a familiar lack of effort at times.”
In 46 games for the Lakers this season, Ayton is averaging 13.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and one block on 67.5% shooting.
Ayton Named One Of The Most Overrated NBA Players
While some might think Ayton being named one of the most overrated players in the NBA could be a stretch, it is likely due to the money he is being paid. Granted, Los Angeles isn’t on the books for the same contract Portland still owes the former first overall pick, but based on the cap space he is taking up across the two franchises, as Swartz wrote, he isn’t living up to his salary.
Ayton has never been known as a top-tier defender, but this season, his play on that side of the court has been even worse than advertised.
“Despite his 7’0″ frame and 7’6″ wingspan, Ayton has never been a defensive anchor even with his physical advantages,” Swartz wrote. “Averaging just 1.0 block in over 30.6 minutes for his career, opponents are making a healthy 59.3 percent of their shots at the rim this season with him as the primary defender. For comparison, that’s nearly identical to Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who’s six inches shorter.”
Despite Ayton starting at center, the Lakers rank 23rd in defensive rating out of 30 teams, and have given up the 20th most points in the paint this season.
He also has a limited offensive game. Though Ayton is relatively strong at hitting a mid-range jumper or hook shot, besides those two moves and catching lobs from Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, or LeBron James, his main role on that side of the ball is to set screens for the star trio. He’s never been a major offensive or shooting threat, but that, compounded by his struggles on defense, is the reason Swartz named him to the list.
“Centers who can’t protect the rim and offer no three-point shooting are a dying breed in the NBA,” he added. “Ayton needs to show some sort of development in any part of his game or else he’ll be out of the league in a few years.”
Lakers At The All-Star Break
While the Lakers signed Ayton and a few other players like Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia over the summer in hopes of becoming a title contender this year, so far, that hasn’t necessarily been the case.
At the time of the All-Star break, Los Angeles has a record of 33-21 and ranks 16th in net rating, 11th in offensive rating, and 23rd in defensive rating. Head coach JJ Redick has been brutally honest about the team throughout the season, and about two-thirds through the year, they have a few issues, specifically on defense, that will need to be addressed if they want to have any hopes of winning more than one playoff series.
That was expected to be addressed at the trade deadline, and despite general manager Rob Pelinka saying the franchise had a few options on the table in terms of big moves, they choose instead to only trade Gabe Vincent for three-point shooter Luke Kennard.
At this point in the season, with the injuries to Doncic and Reaves, despite how well each is playing on the offensive side of the ball when healthy, along with the aging James and the overall lack of depth across the roster, the Lakers don’t look like they can beat any combination of the other top teams in the West.
However, they seem to understand that this is the reality, and based on Pelinka’s comments, their trade deadline move, and other reports about the team, they seem to be looking towards the future, one that sees Doncic and Reaves together, and James gone.
There have been numerous reports about James leaving the Lakers this season, and with that, the franchise is set to prioritize cap space and flexibility this summer to put players that fit well around their star backcourt duo. Whether Ayton will be a part of that future is unknown, but for now, he isn’t making the best of his tryout.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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