The Portland Trail Blazers' decision to buy out Deandre Ayton was surprising. They are looking to end a four-year playoff drought, and having Ayton on the roster would've helped them achieve that goal.
But the decision wasn't based on performance. We're also discovering that it wasn't solely financial, as the Blazers have yet to utilize their MLE in free agency with many of the top targets already off the table.
As Jason Quick of The Athletic recently covered, the Blazers could no longer live with Ayton's 'bad ways'.
"They couldn't live with his bad ways. The tardiness to team flights and practices... The skipping of rehabilitation appointments. Fans saw him slam chairs when he was taken out of games... There were tantrums in the locker room when he was sidelined for poor effort," wrote Quick.
For the Phoenix Suns, this sounds all too familiar. That's something the Suns figured out early on in Ayton's career, and it played a significant role in his trade to Portland in the first place.
Blazers and Suns had the same Deandre Ayton problem
In December of 2022, Ayton and Suns head coach Monty Williams had a heated exchange. In the playoffs that same season, Ayton was benched for the majority of the second half in their surprising Game 7 blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Williams called it an "internal decision."
That wasn't the last time, either. Ayton was benched in Game 3 of the 2023 playoffs against the Denver Nuggets following a heated exchange with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
These incidents didn't go away in Portland, and arguably got worse as Ayton joined a losing situation.
Prior to being the No. 1 overall selection in 2018, Ayton was asked to define what success in the NBA looks like to him. "Definitely getting to my second contract; that's my success," he responded.
That answer alone should have been a red flag. It's certainly indicative of the type of player Ayton has become in the NBA.
His career averages of 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds are still starting-level and represent the type of talent he is. But there will always be question marks surrounding Ayton -- his inconsistent motor, poor defensive reads, lack of physicality, etc. -- that a box score can't answer.
If the Los Angeles Lakers can reel him in under LeBron James' guidance, perhaps this experiment will finally go right. But, as Ayton's time in Phoenix and Portland has shown, that's a big if. It's also the type of gamble that could have negative ripple effects that impact the entire team.
Fortunately for the Suns and Blazers, that's now the Lakers' problem.