At his best, Deandre Ayton is an imposing presence around the rim, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a guy who can enhance Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James’ talent, especially on the offensive end. Unfortunately, based on the way the preseason has gone, he doesn’t seem to be embracing the role as well as he should. At least, that’s how Sam Vecenie sees it.
“Maybe Deandre will embrace being a rim-runner at some point,” Vecenie said on the Game Theory podcast. “It hasn’t really happened that much in the preseason in terms of like downhill pressure towards the rim, but we will see.”
And that’s a big problem for the Lakers.
Why is Deandre Ayton so important for Lakers?
When the Lakers signed Ayton this summer, there were a bunch of different reactions. But above all else, it was seen as a new lease on life for Ayton, who seemingly flamed out while on the Portland Trail Blazers—his second NBA team.
Ayton was waived by the Blazers, and now, he’ll get an opportunity to restart his career (to a degree) with the Lakers. And it should be a perfect situation for a guy like him.
At his best, Ayton was a two-way force for the Phoenix Suns. He helped them make the NBA Finals, playing off of Chris Paul and Devin Booker on offense and holding down the fort in the paint on defense.
In theory, that’s exactly what he should be able to do in LA, especially while playing alongside two of the best playmakers (maybe) in the history of the game in Doncic and James.
With those two by his side, Ayton should be able to morph into one of the most effective rim-runners in the league. All he has to do is set good screens, roll hard, and let Doncic and James find him in the gaps of the defense.
But based on the evaluation Vecenie made on his podcast, it doesn’t seem like Ayton is grasping the role he should be playing for the Lakers. And that’s an issue.
Ayton needs to be aggressive. He has to be able to dive toward the rim with force in order to space the floor for Doncic and James. But that force, that extra energy, has been a problem for him at times throughout his career.
If he can’t figure it out this year with Doncic and James by his side, he may never be able to.
