Yeah yeah yeah. We know we know we know.
Plain and simple, we’re just over it frankly. Let the record show that in no way, shape or form did Deandre Ayton establish himself as the Lakers’ center of the future via his on-court output in ‘25-’26. But let that same record show that the Lakeshow have not even sniffed Ayton’s subpar level of production at the starting center spot since Anthony Davis was shipped. Even before AD, can you conjure up any genuine big boy names who have outperformed DA over the course of recent/extended Laker history aside from Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum?
You cannot.
Say what you want and think what you please about Deandre Ayton, but do not lose sight of how efficient he was offensively (2nd in the NBA at 67.1% FG in the REGULAR season) and effective he was on the defensive end/glass when he was ALL THE WAY LOCKED IN.
Did you happen to notice the random all caps word in parentheses from the previous sentence? Well it just so happens that our efficiency golden boy had a turn of tables come playoff time, as his typically steady hand got slightly shaky to the tune of (still good, just not the great we had grown accustomed to) 54.8% FG over 10 IRREGULAR games.
Through the good and the bad of the Ayton experience, it is STILL not a walk in the park to say that any other available center options are better equipped to find their fit with this team. When ole boy is on his no nonsense, no messing around ish it would be fair to say he still has the type of talent to be the top 5-10 big man in this league that he once seemed destined to become. With his 28th birthday approaching in July, there is still some time for DA to turn that corner so many have been waiting for him to turn for so long now. Whether or not he turns it will ultimately be determined by one person and one person only: Deandre Ayton.
¡Keep going, DA!
