ESPN's Shams Charania reports that the Portland Trail Blazers have finalized a contract buyout with Deandre Ayton. Ayton had an expiring contract of $35.6 million remaining for the 2025-26 season.
Following the surprising selection of Yang Hansen with the No. 16 overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft, many have wondered who would be the odd man out, with Portland now having five centers. With Donovan Clingan and Yang now set as the Blazers' long-term anchors, the decision seemingly came down between Ayton and Robert Williams III.
We actually made a case for Portland to keep Ayton over Williams, given their need for more reliable center minutes in their pursuit of a playoff appearance following their aggresive win-now trade for Jrue Holiday. The reason is that Clingan's conditioning may not be ready to take on a full 82-game season as the starter despite his end-of-season performance as an All-Rookie.
Blazers commit to Donovan Clingan-Yang Hansen era
Clingan is the biggest winner of this surprising development, as he's now seemingly entrenched as the starter. This brings much-needed clarity for Portland's starting center spot for a team that could still take their starting five in several different directions following the Holiday trade.
This buyout is exciting in the sense that general manager Joe Cronin is finally embracing Portland's up-and-coming core, which is something fans have been begging for after four consecutive years of missing out on the playoffs. Not only that, but Ayton has been incredibly frustrating in his two seasons with the Blazers.
Many wondered if Ayton's change of scenery would unlock that potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft ahead of the likes of Luka Doncic and others. Unfortunately, that hasn't been further from the case. This past season, Ayton averaged 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 blocks.
The reality is that he's a quality starting center that should have a lot of interested parties following his buyout. But the cons for Portland to keep him around outweighed the pros, especially following the unconventional selection of Yang Hansen.
Ayton showed inconsistent effort throughout his two seasons, frustratingly coming up with excuses like he was sleeping on an air mattress or couldn't attend the game because of the snow. Those may individually be valid if we were a random boss paying him a median salary, but he is someone who makes $35.6 million playing a sport in a position people are dying to have.
The limited clips we've seen from Yang suggest he'll present the opposite problem, as we have nothing but positive feedback regarding his attitude and contributions to the Blazers' culture.
Maybe this move hurts them in the short term in terms of their playoff aspirations for the 2025-26 season. But we've constantly pleaded for the Blazers not to lose sight of their long-term outlook in pursuit of their shortsighted playoff aspirations. And from that standpoint, we couldn't be happier about them parting ways with "DominAyton".