Through the first 57 games of the NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers know the areas in which they struggle, and know who needs to play well to overcome those issues.
Specifically, Deandre Ayton is the one player the Lakers need to play at a high level if they want to have success both in the rest of the season and in the playoffs.
However, questions about Ayton’s overall performance this year and fit with the team have only grown in recent weeks. Still, amid the Ayton uncertainty, Austin Reaves believes he is a key piece for the Lakers to have success.
“That guy right there is the X factor,” Reaves told Dave McMenamin of ESPN about Ayton. “He changes our ceiling.”
McMenamin’s recent article highlighted Ayton’s struggles this season and the interdependence between him and the team, but as time goes on, questions about his fit in Los Angeles continue to grow.
Lakers Deandre Ayton Concerns Amid ‘Clint Capela’ Quote
Ayton’s mentality, both positively and negatively, is a big issue for Los Angeles at this stage in the season. After the team’s latest loss to the Orlando Magic, the starting center made his feelings clear about his standing on the roster.
“They’re trying to make me Clint Capela,” he said in a jab to the Houston Rockets‘ big man well past his prime. “I’m not no Clint Capela!”
Ayton isn’t new to locker room outbursts or harsh reactions to his role on the Lakers or their latest result. Though the team brought him in on a relatively small deal, he arrived as their new starting center, a position that has carried a lot of responsibility over the course of the year.
Overall, he hasn’t lived up to the expectations, and while his averages of 13.2 points and 8.5 rebounds on 66.7% shooting might signal otherwise, he hasn’t been the defensive anchor the Lakers have needed all season.
“I think he’s done OK,” guard Marcus Smart said on Ayton. “He definitely could be better, we all could. But the thing I love about it is he understands it and he’s working. We all are trying to figure it out; this is new to everybody. He’s doing his best, but he understands it’s another notch that we need him to go to, and we’re going to try to get him there and help with that. But he knows he’s got to do his part as well.”
For better or worse, the Lakers need Ayton, but his emotional instability has been evident across the first two-thirds of the year.
“As a first (overall) pick,” a Western Conference scout told McMenamin. “He’s mostly underachieved.”
Though he isn’t included in the big three of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Reaves, the former’s ‘X-factor’ comments about Ayton ring true. Until now, he hasn’t been what the Lakers had hoped for, and until things change, as seen in the team’s first-round exit last postseason, his play could be the reason for their season ending early again this year.
Lakers Injury Report With Jaxson Hayes And Rui Hachimura
The questions about Ayton have been hanging over the Lakers all season, and will likely continue until something changes.
But for now, Los Angeles is focusing on the games ahead, specifically a test against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, a team sitting just two games below them in the Western Conference standings.
Hours before tipoff, the Lakers have both Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura listed on the injury report.
Hayes, dealing with an ankle injury, is listed as probable, though he did sit out on Tuesday against the Magic.
Hachimura is questionable with an illness and will likely be a game-time decision.
There has been chatter about Hayes being a better fit alongside Doncic and Reaves rather than Ayton, and while he deals with the ankle injury, no time is better for the current starter to prove why he deserves his current role.
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