Exactly a year ago today, the Portland Trail Blazers and Deandre Ayton agreed to a contract buyout, which led to the center signing a two-year, $16.2 million deal with the Lakers, with an $8.1 million player option in the second season. As Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday, the 28-year-old exercised that option.
That is what was expected to happen, since there wasn't a demand for Ayton on the open market. The Lakers can try to spin it by using his salary for next season to trade him this summer, but it won't be for the center upgrade they desperately need.
In other words, Los Angeles is still paying for its swing on Ayton last summer, thinking that he'd be able to revert to the player he was in Phoenix. He had some good moments last season with the Lakers, but not nearly enough to prove that he can be the starting center on a championship-caliber team.
Deandre Ayton picks up his $8.1 million option to stay with Lakers
Portland cut its losses on Ayton's $35.6 million salary for the 2025-26 season, deciding it would be better to pay him to move on rather than keep him around any longer. There was a lot of hype surrounding the Lakers signing him last summer, but Trail Blazers (and Suns) fans already know how that was going to go.
He didn't revive his career in LA, but he could still be the team's starting center on opening night in October, though the Lakers shouldn't let that happen for Luka Dončić's sake. Still, it wouldn't be shocking if that is how Rob Pelinka let things play out.
It took Lakers too long to realize what Trail Blazers already knew
Jaxson Hayes was more effective at times for Los Angeles than Ayton, which is really all there is to be said about that.
The Lakers signed Dončić to a three-year extension last offseason, meaning the final guaranteed year of that deal is 2027-28, followed by a player option in 2028-29. They need to capitalize on the stunning 2025 trade that landed the superstar guard in LA, and part of that involves landing a center who is more effective than Ayton. Preferably someone they can count on.
For now, it looks like Ayton will be the starter, but that could change. For the Lakers' sake, it needs to, as they don't want to give Dončić any reason to be the least bit unhappy. Los Angeles thought that taking a flier on the former Portland center would combat that, but the signs proving otherwise were already there.
The Trail Blazers were right to move on from Ayton when they did, and that was evident last summer, but that decision looks even better now than it did then.
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