Deandre Ayton in the win- 17 PTS 10 REB 3 AST 1 STL 1 BLK on 8⁄11 FG
Deandre Ayton in the win- 17 PTS 10 REB 3 AST 1 STL 1 BLK on 8⁄11 FG.
He once again did an awesome job at screen setting and defense.
Boxscore
Such a massive upgrade from Hayes
Hayes is ass as a back up let alone starter and people thought Ayton wouldn’t be an upgrade because Ayton never lived up the hype
Ayton without arms would be an upgrade
Now they just need someone to replace hayes as backup.
No they don’t. Hayes is fine as their third string center. Maxi Klebar is the one that needs to be replaced, especially at $11m a year.
I mean, they should both be replaced. Kleber and a 2nd for Jalen Smith?
kleber’s contract is expiring.
They’re gonna need to replace Ayton when someone inevitably throws him more money at him someone always does and Lakers can’t pay him
Dlive II you are a Laker.
How fat is he?
I heard that Nico stepped on one of his legos.
I love love love DLive but he’s injured currently and it seems to be a trend.
Hes definitely staying on the team though. Thats Lukas center for Slovenia lol
Gafford? Thank you Nico again
Hayes is ass as a back up…
Hayes is not good, but you are overestimating the current crop of NBA centers by miles. A bunch of teams barely even have one competent center.
Just this evening, the Raptors started Brandon Ingram at center ( I guess ). Orlando started Wendell Carter, Jr. Indiana started Isaiah Jackson ( again, I guess ). Dallas’ starter is now, I guess, Dwight Powell. Hell, other than the one game against Indiana ( who don’t have a center), Gobert is posting Hayes-like numbers this season. Those are all current starters who not much, if any, better than Hayes – or not centers at all.
For all his gangly goofiness, Hayes put up 7⁄5 in under 20 minutes a game last year, on 72% shooting. The Lakers were 3.1 points/100 better with Hayes on the floor, versus off. That’s just about exactly what one can hope for from a backup center in today’s league – especially one that you are only paying $3.5M.
It’s not Hayes’ fault that Redick is at least occasionally an idiot, and doesn’t understand concepts like rebounding.
Lakers were better with Hayes because Lakers didn’t have a back up it was Hayes or some random g league player or just go small.
Hayes as a back up isn’t the worst but it was when he was starting he was horrendous
Doesn’t Orlando have a deeper pool of C’s? Goga Bitadze was an option Lakers fans were pitching they pick up last season.
Man I’ve been wanting Goga to start for the past year and a half, Moseley fucking sucks
Yeah and role player centers as a whole are being pretty undervalued too. See Spurs picking up Kornet for pretty cheap.
Cook
Tell em
It wasn’t so much because he didn’t live up to the hype as much as he gets so disengaged and has the talent to be even better. Like he’s always had random monster statlines and pretty consistently put up 18⁄10 on great percentages but then gives up on plays.
Still a great pickup and if he can stay locked in on being the basket defender the Lakers need him to be, they can contend. We saw how important having Lively/Gafford behind Luka/Kyrie was for the Mavs, and this feels similar.
Ayton is clearly better than Hayes, but Ayton will have series of games when he’s so frustrating you want will want Hayes on the floor just to take away the frustration
He was only bad the first game and so was everybody else beside Luka. After that I don’t think I have watched a Lakers game where I thought Ayton played bad.
Agreed. He’s been solid aside from that game 1. No boneheaded plays like what Hayes does most of the time
One complaint is that his hands aren’t all there and he holds the ball mad low, but I mean his floaters are money and you can’t have everything
That’s an understatement. Almost anyone is an upgrade from Hayes. Ayton’s been great for his role.
Not Alex Lens
I know Ayton definitely has fallen short of overall career expectations but at the price the Lakers got him for, he’s a steal.
As I’ve told others, every team in the nba has a roster spot for ayton at 8m/year
Cash ConsiderAyton
I always thought that Ayton wasn’t as done as the sub declared him to be as he has had a rough couple years in regards to team & coach structures.
22-23: Monty Williams
23-24: Chauncey Billups, no real point guard or set rotation tanking Blazers
24-25: as above.
I’m not saying he’s Shaq, or even Tyson Chandler, but going from the above to Austin, Luka and JJ Reddick would certainly assist anyones situation.
Just wait lmao I thought the suns fans were overreacting when he was traded to the blazers. Not a bad contract now but certainly did not live up to number one pick hype.
We don’t need him to live up to #1 pick hype, or even be a top 3 player on the team. We need him to be a starting caliber center
Look unlike other Blazers and Suns fans I’m actually rooting for Ayton, but he couldn’t do it on a finals team with Chris Paul, he couldn’t do it getting absolutely fed by Scoot on a team where Ayton had all the run to be the guy on the Blazers, he sure ain’t gonna magically get better on the 5th seed Lakers.
His downsides are all mental and its all him. Elite mid range scorer but absolutely 0 dawg.
He absolutely did do it in the Suns finals team. Then the Suns collapsed and he got way more of the blame than he should have. The Suns then botched his contract situation a dozen different ways and Ayton has just seemed disinterested since then.
He definitely doesn’t have the motor he should, but he was a huge piece of the finals team.
From my eye test from the 2-4 blazer games I watched the last couple of seasons, Scoot wasn’t all that great of a passer until the second half of last season, where Aytons numbers have gone up.
Scoot and Ayton had really good chemistry on the blazers. Probably some of the only players both had that complemented each other well.
Scoot has had trouble getting his first step past a defender within the 3pt line. So the Ayton outlet jumped was automatic between them. Both looked worse without each other tbh.
Scoot’s passing hasn’t changed much since he entered the league. His shooting improved a lot 2nd half of last season. Opened the game up for him.
I think it’s clear at this point Ayton will be a good starting center for the Lakers during the regular season. Not an all star but legitimately good and reliable, even with the frustrating Ayton moments where he shies away from contact.
The question will ultimately be whether he can withstand a playoff series against teams like Minnesota who will key in on him game after game and try to mentally fuck him. I know he did just fine in the Finals run with Phoenix but that feels like it was a lifetime ago in his career.
Ayton has played many playoff games and he’s been excellent in a lot of them, he’s not like amazing but he’s a walking 15⁄10 in the playoffs too and can even hold his own at times vs top centers, he’s legit had good games vs Jokic
Like he’s not elite but still
Zach Lowe used to mention all the time around 2021-22 about how well Ayton held up against Jokic in the playoffs, and how integral he was to the 2021 Finals run. It was not long ago everyone thought of him as a max contract center.
Ayton is one of the only guys in the whole league ever asked to guard Giannis and Jokic in single coverage consistently. Like yeah those guys played well but Ayton playing single coverage vs them let the Suns play everyone else a lot tighter.
Ayton was borderline unplayable in the playoffs in ‘22 and ‘23. He got benched for Jock Landale
That was just the 2023 season.
It was only that Denver series Ayton has played well in all the other series
Have to remember he’s going to look a lot better with Luka when they get chemistry together. Luka makes every center look good, hell you should look back at the discourse around Hayes from February last year if you don’t believe me
Dwight Powell has a contract because of Luka
Ayton is a good starting center, period. He only gets hate because of his draft expectations.
More of salary to performance. Now his contract is such a steal even if he was half as good as he was, it’s worth it
This is so untrue and I question your flair because of how untrue it is. He played like he had airpods in while on the blazers
He has glaring faults and limitations but those don’t make him trash like people claim. I don’t defend him because I think he’s great, I just think he’s treated more harshly than other good-not-great centers. He’s at worst the 25th to at best 15th best center in the league. That’s fine. He only gets hate for it because of his initial high expectations.
As for me beings blazers fan, he was one of the main reasons the blazers went on that 10-1 streak last season but no one acknowledges that.
Yep, that’s what I’ve been saying. He’s only a disappointment because he was a 1st pick on a max contract. He’s an automatic 14⁄10 at the least and only 7 guys hit those numbers last year, but even with the inconsistency and lack of defensive effort he was still around the 20th best center in the league. The suns and blazers fans that keep saying “just wait” are just biased haters and don’t get it. He’s making just $8m and only has to have a pulse to be a massive upgrade for the lakers because the last time they played serious basketball they didn’t even play a center because the options were that bad. He can get 14⁄10 in his sleep and will still be amazing for them if he gets even half that.
He’ll be fine. I feel like Minnesota rattled him for a brief period tonight, but he just slots too well into what Reddick is doing with Luka and AR.
That’s not gonna work with Lebron present
He’s been great. He hasn’t lived up to number one pick status, obviously, but people really tried to act like he’s a below-average center.
They labelled the man Kwame Brown, when he was at least better than Drummond.
He does have some Kwame tendencies; and don’t get me wrong, prime Kwame was a decent player, especially on D.
Most notably his stone hands. Ayton also needs to keep the ball high when he receives a pass. He always brings it below his waist and that is the main cause of him losing the ball so often.
Prime kwame was never a decent player 😂
My only complaint on Ayton is his hands. I wish he can catch the ball and not fumble it at times but overall he’s playing well
Let them keep hating
Agreed, it’s also worth noting that he never should have been a number 1 pick in the first place
Who is the “average center” in the league today in your mind. If we look at Ayton’s stats in context with other starting centers in the league you think he grades out average or better? What metric are you using?
I’ll look for ya in April when teams are hunting that Luka/AR + Ayton sieve and we’re all laughing at the highlights.
That midrange jumper looking smooth too
He’s legitimately elite from that range.
Yeah whenever I see him start to take that shot I just relax now. He’s been automatic
AutomAyton
He has really nice touch. I don’t understand the stone hands when catching balls though.
Reminder that people talking about someone on a bad contract gets wild
Gobert highest paid player on the court, gets outplayed by minimum contract players, hunted on defense for gamewinner
4x DPOY too btw
This was always the thing that baffled me. Folks kept insisting that Laker fans would be disappointed as if the team had drafted him 1 overall, given him $100m contract, or traded a ton of assets for him.
When you sign a guy off the scrap heap for 5% of your cap space and he replaces Hayes & Koloko, you literally only have upside. There is no downside because we haven’t had to invest anything into acquiring him and can move on from him easily at any time.
Unless Ayton somehow finds a way go full George Constanza and blow up the Mark Walter acquisition of the team, there is no way Laker fans will regret spending $8m on this guy.
Ayton literally just has to have a pulse to be a massive upgrade. The Lakers’ center rotation was so bad that they legit just stopped playing centers in the playoffs. Simply being able to be on the court is already a win.
Considering the salaries nowadays, the 30m for Ayton is not even bad anymore honestly, Christian Brauns are getting 25m/y
I get what you’re saying but if you told me someone who shot 58% from the floor on 10.4 fga/g while playing 2675 total minutes got paid $25m, i wouldn’t be using him as the example of this market overpaying
Braun was just an example, there’s lots of overpaid players in the 20m-30m range in the NBA, it’s the best place to be as a player where you’re good but not great and the salary cap is so high now that that’s basically/4th option money
Look at someone like Hartenstein who makes 30m, he’s good but just shows you
Tbf, Braun is a great player.
I’m an old head, but it’s just wild to me that almost every player is getting at least 25 million a year. I remember it was groundbreaking when Jordan signed a one year deal for 30 million. But now you can be the number 3 guy on a team and get 25-30 million over a 5 year deal. And if you’re the top player on the team, you’re automatically getting 50-60 million a year.
Ayton has been a revelation. Can’t wait till random Suns and Blazers fans come in to tell me I’ll be disappointed soon.
He was great on the Blazers for what we were doing, I for one miss him but gotta develop the young bigs
What happened to Rob will 3?
You’re not going to believe this but knee injury.
He did just get assigned to our G-League so might be back soon.
Might as well trade him for a second. Blazers not getting shit out of him
They got burned mainly vause they spent a 1st overall pick and overpayed him by 20 or so million, respectively.
We got him for 8 million a year, which is basically bench player money these days. If he turns into a pumpkin, he is an 8 million dollar trade exception.
I mean we said that too.
Honestly he was mostly good for us. There will always be the occasional slumps and he’s really frustrating when in a slump, but our only real issues were him being a bit overpaid - not a ton but a bit - and we suddenly had too many centers.
It’s still early to tell
For the Suns, they asked for a star and got not that. For the Blazers, we asked for nothing and 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lakers are asking for something, but it is 15 points and 10 rebounds. Y’all will be fine.
That being said, Fuck the Lakers, and go Blue Jays while we’re on the topic.
Next year when Ayton is on a new team.
“Ayton has been a revelation. Can’t wait till random Lakers, Suns, and Blazers fans come in to tell me I’ll be disappointed soon.”
There’s almost 0 reason to hate Ayton as a lakers fan. He came for free and cheap and he’s better than Hayes and adds an extra center to the roster.
All Lakers would have to do is upgrade center next offseason or try to get him back with a friendly contract.
The hate is funny when Lakers don’t have to pay this guy that much lol
For example Lopez gets paid more than him and has been shooting like shit and averaging 7.3 and 3.8. While Ayton is basically averaging 16 and 10 on good efficiency.
Some people still dont understand how big he is for the Lakers. Just not playing Hayes 20-25mins is already a big W.
Forget 20-25mins, Hayes was so bad that he played like 30mins total the whole first round vs Wolves.
Deandre completely shut down Gobert in both of these games. Remember last years playoffs when Rudy was feasting? Ayton is a decent defender when he puts in the effort. He may not block every shot, but definitely affects a lot of shots and gets a lot of sneaky deflections
Tbf Gobert hasn’t done shit all year regardless who’s on him. He’s averaging less than 9 points
Yea they dont run any sets for him. Rudys offense is kinda dependent on his teammates not hitting shots (putbacks) and the occasionally lob
Another great game from the big men
Suns fans talked a lot of shit about someone who is a serviceable center. Blaming Ayton because Booker is a one dimensional scorer.
Even as a Lakers fan I recoiled at this take. Ayton was a disaster toward the end in Phoenix. Booker did all he could to summon Ayton’s competitiveness and Ayton simply was checked out.
Change of scenery has reinvigorated Ayton, he’s suddenly now willing to focus on defense more than offense.
But let’s not blame Booker for what happened in Phoenix lol
Wasn’t it a problem with the coach of the Suns at the time. I thought Ayton and Monty straight up didn’t like each other.
Yup… keywords former coach now out of the league
Easy to blame him and make him a scape goat but he’s already proven that if he’s treated right he will fill his role and do what needs to be done
Booker Kd Beal are worse playmakers and passers than gabe Vincent let alone luka bron AR.I don’t blame Ayton for giving up .They wanted him to be mutombo
Same thing as Westbrook on the Lakers, he’s terrible for the contract but serviceable if you’re not paying him that much
Westbrook has been doing well on the Kings too.
And in Denver. He’s just not 40 m player and that’s ok.
What an awful take
He legitimately quit on the team in the playoffs
So why isn’t he quitting on the Lakers? Rondo “quit” on his team but does anyone doubt he’s a HOF player who anyone would have been happy to have? He helped the Lakers to another title too. Sometimes certain situations don’t work out with players that doesn’t mean the player sucks or needs to be trashed. Ayton can play
Ayton has the same pattern every year. Has a couple weeks when he gets the fans hopes up before he goes back to being the laziest player in the nba
Then he will have a strong couple weeks then go back to being lazy again.
Ayton on his Robert Horry arc.
rondo is not a hof player lol but point taken
Nah, I’m a Lakers an but let’s not pinpoint this on Booker. Ayton kinda gave up when he was on a max contract on the Suns and Booker isn’t even an one dimensional scorer lol.
This is genuinely one of the worst takes ever. God, I hate Laker fans so much. Booker has a NBA first team, and 2 gold medals but yes he was the problem. Not the center who averaged 2 FT a game because hes scared of contact
Never mind the significant part of Ayton becoming an even bigger pussy once that max contract was signed.
I mean he did sign it with Indiana. Its clear he didn’t want to be in Phoenix and they didn’t want him either
No, it’s because Ayton was a cancer in the locker room and cried on the bench during a crucial game. Got nothing to do with Booker.
I’d be a cancer too if I was mistreated. He’s doing awesome on the Lakers. Funny how you’re backing up the Suns who are a known joke of an organization lol
I’ll see you in May and we’ll see how you feel about Ayton.
He’s getting paid 8 mill rn what r u expecting from him? 30 ppg and 20 rebounds 3 blocks?
Again, I’ll see you in May.
Ok tag me
Yall burnt a first pick in a strong draft on him and then paid him 33 mil a year. We signed him for a 8 mil, did not give up a single asset for him,and did not have a playable big until he arrived.
The expectations are way different. Honestly if he can be a 12 and 10 guy with serviceable defense for the rest of the year, he’s more than done his part.
It’s like with Westbrook. For the lakers, we gave up picks, multiple rotation players that had won us a championship, and he took up a max slot. He under delivered for what he costed. But for other teams, as a vet minimum signing, he was definitely a positive player.
I get what you are saying and I know right now it looks like he can deliver that for you. Even we were fine with him being a 16&10 with decent defense type of guy but it goes beyond that with him. He will start fading, playing soft, throwing fits, putting in effort every 3rd or 4th game. Maybe he won’t be like that for the Lakers but he’s done this in PHX and Portland.
And knowing Luka, he will hate Ayton come playoff time.
You got him for that price because the whole league knows he’s the softest 7-footer in the league who will inevitably quit when games get tough.
The alternative to Ayton for us would have been running it back with Hayes, which would have been a nightmare. Hayes could not stay on the court for a fucking minute against this same exact team in the post season. And any big we could’ve realistically acquired this off season that would have been better than Ayton would’ve meant parting with our remaining picks and our cap flexibility for the future. Something we’re not trying to do with LeBron coming off the books soon.
If he starts shitting the bed, oh well, back to where we were before we acquired him for nothing.
With all of this context, I don’t know what it would take for me to start hardcore hating on Ayton, but it wouldn’t be falling short of starting caliber quality. Who he came to replace isn’t even a solid backup.
Ayton is fine on his current contract for a team without title hopes, so I guess you should be satisfied if you’re not expecting the Lakers to push for a title this season.
When they get into a playoff series where they let a lot go and he’s getting bullied because he hates contact they will understand lol
When teams switch guards into him and he does fade aways instead of dunking on their heads they will understand
Exactly.
The suns have a top 5 winning percentage of any NBA franchise and have a big dedicated fanbase. They are far from a joke lol
Signed a max contract, but was mistreated…?
Had been mistreated and signed a max with Indiana that the Suns then matched and kept him in the doghouse. The Suns still hated him and just didn’t want to lose their 1st pick for nothing, so they kept him around until they could trade him.
Dog house?
Gotta be kidding me with these takes from people who weren’t there.
Suns fans told me he would be ass. He’s been good for the lakers and a huge upgrade over Hayes
He can look like a top 10 center for sure, but he’s also inconsistent and can be frustrating when you can see the lack of effort.
He definitely had games where he was the best player on the floor for us, for whatever that’s worth.
Nobody thinks he’s consistently awful. Nobody thinks he’s consistently anything. That’s the issue, he’s consistently inconsistent.
Once Bron and Luka are back he’ll feast more.
AR 15 cooking, Dominayton return
Luka going to the Finals
I had so many complaints about him after game 1. It looked like we’d be getting more of the same from him.
He’s gotten his shit together. Hes a great paint presence.
Not bad for Alex Len Lite
That’s what the Suns fans tried to paint him
This is all they need from him, honestly. And I think he can do it
Ayton saved my life.
Sounds like an insane statement but y’all don’t realize how painful it was seeing Jaxson Hayes start at the 5 and foul every other possession
Lebron and Luka holding Ayton back.
Almost as if there’s nothing for a centre to do on a team with one dimensional scorers like booker and Kd who only care about their own shots.reaves is a better playmaker than any player that Ayton has played w since cp3. And reaves is our 3rd ball handler
Bro cooked gobert
i said reaves was the real deal 1.5 years ago.
i said ayton would get his act together in LA.
im feeling vindicated tonight
That man handles the ball like he’s got a PhD in foreplay
Ayton can be an all-star if they just give him the damn ball
lakers glazing in this sub is wild.
They’re all asking “Why are there four players and DAWG on the court?”
Yes, yes. Keep going Lakers fans.
I’ll still be here when he disappoints you when you need him the most.
Why will we be disappointed for a rental center on a discounted contract that we didn’t trade assets for?
Should lakers have said no to him and played Hayes and have koloko as a back up again hahah
Suns fans hate him so much they legit forget there is context to why Lakers fans are absolutely fine with him even if he has a bad game.
Because you have Luka who’s looked better than ever and you’d be wasting his season.
Lakers would’ve been wasting a season if they didn’t get Ayton wtf lmao
Who were the lakers choices? Brook Lopez who would be the opposite of Luka wants for interior presence? Capela?
Like seriously critically think and tell me who was a better option that was available for the Lakers.
Ayton has been good so far and I have not seen any problems and that’s including his flaws.
Lakers rejected Mark Williams who’s looked better than Ayton this season.
He was like really terrible in the fourth quarter
He was not lol
Keep making shit up lol