The Los Angeles Lakers made somewhat of a splash when they signed Deandre Ayton to a two-year, $16.2 million deal that includes a player option for the second season. The former No. 1 overall pick will join his third team in his eighth NBA season.
There have been lofty expectations placed on the newest Lakers big man as he will now be receiving passes from Luka Dončić and LeBron James, two of the league's best facilitators. Ayton may have received his strongest praise on Thursday as one sports media personality compared him to Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
"The Lakers made a big splash here in the last week picking up Deandre Ayton," Fox Sports 1's Jason McIntyre stated Thursday. "And I know a lot of people instantly pooh-poohed this deal as, 'ah, this is no big deal, Ayton is a malcontent. He would come out of games and slam the chairs down. He'd be late to rehab'. This is how much Deandre Ayton hated it in Portland. He forfeited $10 million to get out of town."
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"Let's just say Deandre Ayton through his first seven seasons is kind of, sort of, a top-eight center in the league," McIntyre continued. "Jokic is an MVP, Giannis is an MVP, AD's All-NBA, Joel Embiid has an MVP. These are all great players. Deandre Ayton is in that class with them. He just, obviously, was in Portland so nobody paid attention."
Ayton has played well through his first seven seasons -- the first five of which were spent with the Phoenix Suns and the last two with the Portland Trail Blazers. He has averaged 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.0 blocks in 30.8 minutes per game while shooting 59.0% from the field.
While his production has been solid, it is difficult to make the case that the newest Laker is on par with the league's top big men. Los Angeles will certainly hope, however, that playing alongside Dončić and James will be able to get the most out of him. The best two seasons of Ayton's career came when he shared the floor with Chris Paul -- another one of the league's premier facilitators.
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