Talent has never been the problem for Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Whenever that talent is combined with effort, Ayton plays like a top-10 NBA center. The problem with Ayton has always been that you never know when those things will exist in tandem. When he was with the Blazers, Ayton didn't seem to understand why that made him a detriment to the team. And it appears he still doesn't.
Now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, Ayton might be the only person left on Earth who doesn't see that he's not a star-level contributor. In a recent piece by Dave McMenamin of ESPN, there was a pretty clear indicator that Ayton still thinks he is a cornerstone player... And isn't happy about being forced into a more complementary role:
"'They're trying to make me Clint Capela," Ayton said, referring to the Houston Rockets' now backup center, who a decade ago made his impact as a lob-catching, rim-running big on a team that made it to two conference finals.
"I'm not no Clint Capela!"'
It's not often that a player says something so out of touch that you have to double and triple-check that it's not satire. But Ayton does seem genuine here, which is crazy because if he could just be prime Clint Capela for these Lakers, everyone else would be happy.
Deandre Ayton becoming Clint Capela would be great for the Lakers
Instead of happily being Clint Capela, which is what the Lakers are asking him to be, the former Blazers center is hellbent on being Hakeem Olajuwon, and that's making for a frustrating season in LA because he isn't Hakeem Olajuwon.
In his prime, Capela was a far more impactful player than Ayton is right now.
In the offseason, when the Lakers picked up Ayton, the league at large guffawed that the Blazers would let Ayton team up with Luka and LeBron.
Now everyone is seeing exactly why Joe Cronin and the front office were happy to part ways with Ayton — and a quote like this shows that Ayton himself still doesn't understand what his role has to be in 2026 and beyond.