The Portland Trail Blazers stunned the NBA on Sunday night.
ESPN's Shams Charania broke the news that the Blazers were buying out DeAndre Ayton.
The former No. 1 overall pick will become a free agent.
Unlike some of the moves that happen this time of year, no one saw this coming.
Sure, Ayton has never quite lived up to his full billing.
Still, he's a 7-foot center who averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds in 2024-25 and still hasn't turned 27 years old.
The Blazers are clearly moving in a new direction, shown already by their swap of Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday. But it didn't seem like Ayton was next.
MORE: Lakers trading LeBron James seems to be a door left open
He hadn't even be rumored in trades, let alone as a buyout candidate.
Portland has just handed a starting-caliber center to some other team out there. The Lakers certainly could use him.
It seems likely that the Blazers explored trades before this move and didn't find anything, but if they didn't, that'd be odd, too.
Free agency will soon overshadow this decision, but it shouldn't. Ayton will somehow be a part of that rather than just with Portland in 2025-26, and it's not a situation anybody expected.
MORE NBA NEWS:
- Thunder cut ties with former 1st-round pick in cruelest trade
- The latest on Bronny James
- LeBron James' decision means Lakers have to solve 1 key need
- Cavs' Lonzo Ball trade is brilliant for 3 reasons
- Jonathan Kuminga wants a lot of money
- Celtics 'laughed' at Raptors' trade offer for Derrick White