Early-season Deandre Ayton is great, right? You get to see some of the best traits of the former first overall pick before getting to hitch a ride on the wild rollercoaster that is one of his seasons. The Washington Wizards find themselves at that predictable point of the Ayton experience.
Vibes are high in Washington. Their backup center is a part of that. Despite the 131-122 loss in the Wizards' most recent preseason matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, they got to watch an encouraging performance from the former Los Angeles Lakers big man.
Ayton put up four points, seven rebounds, and four assists in his 25-plus minutes of playing time. Deandre the playmaker is a new one. The former Lakers center never posted four assists during his run with Los Angeles.
Still being active on the glass and securing seven rebounds despite only taking four shots is an encouraging sight for the Wizards, too. During the 2025-26 regular season, Ayton only snagged a minimum of seven boards three times when shooting less than five field goal attempts.
It all gives reason for hope. It is the same type of hope the Lakers had when Ayton was saying and doing all the right things in the early parts of their run together, too. If history repeats itself, the Wizards are in for a rude awakening midway thourgh the 2026-27 season.
The Deandre Ayton cycle the Lakers experienced is alive and well in Washington
Perhaps Ayton really is going to give the Wizards his best self. This is a contract year for him after all. It is in his best interests to deliver the type of play that would convince someone in the NBA to give him a new deal next summer.
However, much of that could have also been said last season with the Lakers. Ayton had a player option for 2026-27. If the former Lakers center had a strong enough campaign in 2025-26, testing the open market in search of a new deal would have been wise.
Even Los Angeles could have been the team to pay up for him, if things went well enough. The Lakers had the cap space. They could have forked it over for a long-term commitment with Ayton in the circumstances of him proving he was worth it.
Instead, he picked up his player option and the Lakers shipped him to the Wizards. Now, the Ayton cycle resets and repeats.
Perhaps Ayton really can turn a new leaf and offer a full season of effort and buy-in. That is something that only time can truly answer. Right now, it just looks like the same old story that each of his previous NBA teams, the Lakers included, can attest to.
Add us as a preferred source on Google