The arrival of Deandre Ayton to the Lakers, far from bringing certainty, brings more uncertainty
Deandre Ayton. The number one pick pick Draft 2018two positions above Luka Doncicthe star of Los Angeles Lakers that awakens sighs throughout the planet. In a league devoid of big men, this should be not only good news. Perhaps the best news of all in a short season convulsed.
However, it is far from being.
The league halls speak. Intramuros, it is known that Portland Trail BlazersAyton’s last franchise, fed up with him. Jason Quick account, in The New York Timesthat they could live with their injuries. With playing 55 games in one season and 40 in the other. What they didn’t bear more were their bad habits: Arrive late to flights and practices. Saute the rehabilitation appointments. Kick chairs when they removed it from the games. And in addition, the conflict on in the costumes when they took him away from lack of effort.
JJ Redick must face all that. This plenary was played Rob Pelinka, who has a goal in sight: convince Doncic to execute a long -term contract extension with the franchise. For that they must be competitive. Now, are they really competitive?
Who remembers the constant complaints of Doncic – with the referees, with the companions, with the rivals, with the world – can understand what could happen to these Lakers in the near future. They needed, of course, a dominant center. Now what they will need is a center, but Mindfulness. An army of psychologists. And also of nutritionists. ICT, TAC, ICT, TAC. We are not even in postseason and The bomb begins to enter countdown In Hollywood.
The past playoffs were a clear sample of where the Lakers were standing. LeBron James, with 40 years, was shown in superhero modewith a physicist and a completely unusual game for an athlete of his age. He seemed to be 26 years old. And Doncic, a gifted with his mind, seemed to have 40 and several combined nights of beer and fast food. Your defeated defense with Anthony Edwards, by Minnesota Timberwolves, It was like a rhino trying to anticipate the movements of a gazelle. The truth is never sad, what it does not have is remedy: not even the most wonderful of the players, as is the case of Luka, can compete dignifiedly with that physical preparation that did not even touch the acceptable.
Nico Harrison, in a couple of weeks of April, went from being crazy to having a point.
Can Deandre Ayton bring solutions to Los Angeles?
The Lakers, then, will face Your own redemption season. The eyes will be put not only on the first day of the Doncic season, but in the successive months. For LeBron, this regular series 2025-26 can be his last bullet in the bedroom. And for Ayton, his arrival at the Showtime franchise is presented as a sports recovery lapses. He aspires to be the one in his years in the Suns, when he managed to be a finalist NBA and was considered one of the best inmates in the League. Today is far from all that. But he is 26 years old. A good number, although yes, I know: it looks like 35.
The average fanatic may not see it, but the Lakers took Ayton, as a free agent without restrictions, because they could not sign something better before. Clint capela signed with the Rockets. Brook Lopez He went to the neighbors Clippers. To Horford It is still available as a free agent. The Knicks They stayed with Guerschon Yabusele. The Bucks They were made with the services of Myles Turner. The Nuggets acquired by change from Jonas Valanciunas. And the Spurs They signed a Luke Kornet. Curious what they did, in addition, the Sunsformer Ayton team: they changed for Mark Williamsthe man who had not passed the physical suitable in the Lakers, and also added to The beautiful story of overcoming from the draft called Khalam Maluachthe Duke giant born in South Sudan.
With that panorama, and with the dawn in sight, Redick stopped the music and hugged Ayton strong. He swore eternal love for the coming months, go contradiction of obtuse fidelity. But to lie, sometimes, man lives. Of convincing situations.
Ayton’s numbers are not bad. The rivals, how much Genius IQThey launched 53.5% against him near the hoop last season. It is the eleventh average among 221 players in defending 125 or more shots near the hoop. And while their numbers fell in Portland, it is one of a total of four players to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in the last seven seasons, next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert and Nikola Vucevic.
The Lakers aspire to an Austin Reaves growth in the perimeter and a drafted development of Dalton Knecht. Anyway, the squad is still overpopulated by Aeros, with Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jake Laravia, Maxi Kleber and Lebron.
What should we expect from the Lakers this season? Nothing very different from the previous one. The eyes will then be placed on the general health of a team that has its three main swords (Doncic, Ayton and James) with potential risk of injury. Doncic, as returned from the preseason and how it remains at effort and overload levels. Ayton, with the last two seasons playing 95 of 168 possible games. And LeBron, with four decades on the back. You can’t ask for more than it gave and what it gives.
Ayton’s arrival, more than answers, brings new questions. In Hollywood, where the great scripts of the NBA were written, in the franchise in which we ever delight with Magic Johnson passesthe shots of Kareem Abdul-Jabbarthe force of Shaquille O’Neal and the unwavering spirit of Kobe BryantKing LeBron does not manage greatness. What reigns, now, is uncertainty.
From this distant month of July. Until the lights of March, when the postseason is just meters away.
