Deandre Ayton claims historic Lakers' double-double was ‘mediocre'

RC Nazemi

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Deandre Ayton claims historic Lakers' double-double was ‘mediocre' image

This summer, the Los Angeles Lakers took a swing at anchoring their center position by signing former #1 overall pick Deandre Ayton.

You’d think that this is a lights-out signing, but due to underperforming on expectations to this point in his career, the move was met with heavy criticism. 

Ayton has done nothing but prove the doubters wrong to this point. 

He’s had multiple 20+ point double-doubles over the course of this young season, has looked ultra-efficient, and even looks like a defensive anchor down low for Los Angeles, which we have not seen to this point in his career. 

The other night in Philadelphia, Ayton recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 7/7 from the field. He even threw in a block and a steal. This stat line actually put him in the Lakers' record books. 

More: Deandre Ayton put up the most flawless double-double in Lakers history

When discussing that performance with the media leading up to their NBA Cup Quarterfinals matchup tomorrow, Ayton had a lot to say. 

Deandre Ayton has far more in the tank

One fault many people have placed upon Ayton throughout his young career, valid or not, has been his inability to do the little things for the team when needed, like defending at a high level and rebounding. 

This season, he’s done exactly that as he showed in Philadelphia. When asked about that performance, Ayton said, “I can do way more than that…that’s mediocre to me.”

He’s not lying; he can and has done more than that on multiple occasions this season. Ayton has been everything the Lakers have needed from him and more this season. 

On a team where your third option is LeBron James, having a player of the caliber of Deandre Ayton averaging a cool 15.3 PPG and 8.8 RPG on 70.6% FG on the side is such a luxury. 

More: NBA insider suggests last night’s LeBron James performance sends terrifying message to the league

Tomorrow night, the Lakers take on the Spurs, and hopefully Victor Wembanyama is playing. The last time those two matched up, Ayton definitely got the better of him. We’ll see if we get another great matchup between the two bigs. 

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Contributing Writer