Think of the pick and roll opportunities. He will help open up the court for others too, because he can pick and pop.
jj didn't want to play hayes mostly for offensive reasons. you can't just shut off the lob to ayton and be done with it. this is a big upgrade. there are hoop iq concerns with ayton. they were there with hayes, too, but without the offensive skill and real size/strength. this is a big get. and i was always anti-wood, even if i think the injuries probably derailed things, i just wasn't a fan of his game at other stops. ayton is good; don't let the #1 pick bust talk twist it up. we're playing in a league where poeltl is getting 20 per. we're paying ayton 8 this year.
Massive get for the price and no assets used. He can be absolute garbage and it will still be solid business. Also great he's playing for a contract. He has more than 100 million to make in his career. He will play for the Lakers and with 2 of the best EVER to play the game. If he's not motivated, he's done in the league. He won't have to do much either. It should help his lazy approach. I think this can go very well and we end up overpaying him next year, which would be a good sign for this season. Really opens up our trade possibilities where we can focus on adding defensive wing/guards to the rotation, which we badly need
Signing him is a no brainer IMO. Yes, we are all aware of the issues around him. Even with that, he’s a clear upgrade. Plus, since AD never really considered himself a center, he’s the best big we’ve had since, what, Gasol? I’m optimistic he will be fine for us.
The last seasson in Phoenix I don't what happened but this dude was a legit good player in the playoffs - a guy who had to plan for both on offense and defense You can't put up those numbers at age 22 and 23 in the western conference playoffs and not have talent. Things went south that last year in Phoenix and Portland was a disaster. Ayton clearly deserves blame for a lot of it due to his lackasidical attitude and lack of competitive fire. But he was also in situations where he didn't have leadership and clear direction of what his role was. When he's put in a situation where he gets opportunities in a structured environment the guy is a legit load to handle.
Saw Irwin and a Portland guy on a pod today, they were talking about how Phoenix told him if he did the dirty work, played the right way, they’d reward him at the end of the season with that rookie extension. He did all they asked of him, and then they didn’t extend him, so the story was he didn’t get rewarded for playing that way and sort of regressed. I think he knew or felt he was on the way out the last season there and just kind of quit at the end. Sucks, but yeah, he wouldn’t be available if he didn’t have issues and questions surrounding him.
Oh that Irwin podcast jogged the memories. I forgot Ayton did quit in the Game 7 against Luka and Dallas. Monty Williams was considered as some coaching savant at that time and he froze Ayton out after that. Turned out Monty has his own issues Some weird points Ayton was actually legit really good in that Dallas series before game 7 I still can't believe Dallas didn't resign Brunson that off season. I thought that was weird back then but you look at the number. That Luka Brunson combo was causing havoc
Very happy with this pickup. We could have done A LOT worse here...look at what other centers got this summer Also, I was 100% convinced that Indiana or some other team (C Bags) would come in at the last minute and swoop Ayton from right underneath us. The fact that Ayton picked us over all these other teams speaks volumes and shows that players wanna play with Luka. And for only $8.3M? I mean damn. Also, let's not forget that Ayton becomes a very valuable trade chip at the deadline if say...Giannis becomes available. Food for thought... I know we won't have Ayton's bird rights (right?), but I believe we'll have cap space to re-sign if he plays really well.
LOL holy crap... I totally forgot that Deandre Ayton has played in the NBA finals before... he averaged 15/12/2/2/2 on 53/91 splits in 37.5MPG and he had guard Giannis in that series I believe that was like his 3rd year in the league...so yeah we're getting someone who has finals experience which is kinda crazy
I like this signing a lot for this upcoming season, but given how lazy (reportedly) and inconsistent he is, I don't like the idea of signing him long-term. Realistically this is probably the best we could have done right now, so good job Rob.
Yeah he will have to REALLY knock it out of the park to the point where he's showing to be that 3rd or even 2nd guy to Luka after LeBron retires. I'm thinking he needs to have an 18 and 12 type of season with elite defense.
