The Los Angeles Lakers made it clear at the February 6 trade deadline that they're interested in bolstering their center position. The Portland Trail Blazers may have just gifted them an opportunity to finally scratch this particular itch.
Sunday evening, ESPN's NBA insider Shams Charania broke the shocking news that the Blazers have opted to buy out big man Deandre Ayton from the final year of his four-year, $132.9 million deal (2025-26 salary would have been worth $35.6 million), thrusting him into the open waters of unrestricted free agency.
Despite his checkered injury history over the past few seasons (has played in over 60 games just once since 2021-22) and imperfections on the hardwood (foul-happy and no consistent long-distance jumper), the 26 years old's still someone who's bound to generate a ton of attention on the open market this summer, and the Lakers must be one of the teams heavily vying for his services.
Lakers must pursue Deandre Ayton after Trail Blazers buyout
Say what you will about how he may not have lived up to his number one overall pick status since coming into the league back in 2018, but Ayton has still proven himself to be a solid starting center in the association.
Throughout his seven-year career, the 7-footer finds himself sporting impressive per-game averages of 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 59.0 percent from the field.
He's also the first player since Dwight Howard to average at least 10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in each of his first seven NBA seasons in the association.
For someone of his size, Ayton has highly impressive mobility, especially on the less glamorous side of the ball, where he boasts a defensive rating of 110 for his career.
With his length and athleticism, the big man also has the makings of being a lethal lob threat when out in transition and in the pick-and-roll with the elite dime-dropping duo of Luka Doncic and the recently bought-in LeBron James running alongside him.
Clearly, the pressure is on for this Lakers team to make some win-now moves this summer, especially with 'Bron officially not back in the fold for year 23.
With arguably their most glaring rotational weakness being the center position, it seems painfully obvious that Los Angeles should now have their sights set on pursuing the services of Deandre Ayton during this summer's free agency.
Add all this to the fact that the franchise is also looking to build for the future, specifically catering to Doncic, and there aren't many available pivot options that fit both the short and long-term timeline that GM Rob Pelinka is looking to adhere to better than Ayton.