The Portland Trail Blazers knew Deandre Ayton wasn't a starting-caliber center. They bought him out last summer, getting him to forfeit $10 million of his salary in the process. That opened the door for Ayton to land with the Los Angeles Lakers, who were in desperate need of a big man.
Blazers fans tried warning Lakers fans about the Deandre Ayton experience, but they didn't listen until it was too late. The honeymoon phase ended, and the Lakers front office eventually realized they were no further along in their search for a long-term answer at center than before.
That ultimately led to a recent desperation trade with the Utah Jazz for Walker Kessler.
Lakers admit Deandre Ayton mistake with Walker Kessler trade
The Lakers forked over a massive haul of unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030. It was a sign-and-trade that included a four-year, $130 million contract for Kessler.
Now, Los Angeles has no tradeable first-round picks for the next seven years (!) and has a total of $475 million (!) locked up in the trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Kessler. Quite the all-in move by GM Rob Pelinka on a core that still isn't built to contend.
Most of this could've been avoided had Ayton panned out with the Lakers. The opportunity cost of him being nothing more than a talented but frustrating backup center meant Pelinka had to use his final remaining assets to address the center position, especially given how important a big man is in Doncic's formula for success.
Ayton has exercised his $8.1 million player option for next season to remain with the Lakers; that's reasonable value for a team in need of more bigs, especially after Jaxson Hayes signed with Utah on a two-year, $12 million deal. Still, the narrative surrounding Ayton's stint in Los Angeles has drastically changed in just the matter of one season.
Lakers fans went from wondering how they managed to steal this guy from the entire organization to realizing why Portland was fine letting him go in the first place. Between the Suns, Blazers, and now Lakers, this is the third landing spot where Ayton hasn't met expectations.
Los Angeles has essentially admitted the experiment has backfired, considering how much of their future they had to sacrifice to pair Doncic with Kessler instead.
This not only proves that the Blazers were never the problem, but also shows that they were right to move on a year early. Had they never done that, it would've postponed the inevitable realization that Ayton isn't the answer at center.
Fortunately, Portland does have a true answer at center in Donovan Clingan, and they found that out in part because Ayton's departure cleared the path for the UConn product's breakout season.
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