Deandre Ayton has agreed on a buyout with the Trail Blazers that will make him a free agent this offseason. He had nearly $35 million left on his contract, but due to the logjam of talented young bigs in Portland, it made the most sense for both parties to part ways and help Ayton find another team this season itself.
A social media page called Ball Report claimed that the Warriors inquired about Deandre Ayton before the trade deadline in February, but no longer have the financial flexibility to pursue their trade target. Brett Siegel, the NBA Insider with ClutchPoints, had a different take on the situation.
“Nobody was interested in trading for him at the deadline, hence why he wasn’t moved. Portland would’ve taken anything to get off his contract. I can fully confirm that the Warriors never made a call to Portland about Ayton in February.”‘
When the page refuted his claims, Siegel left it to the public to decide who to believe.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion on who they would like to believe:
– Someone who has talked directly with members of both front offices and has gone to dinner with them several times.
OR
– A Warriors fan page turned aggregator account, trying to call me out.
You choose.”
We believe Brett Siegel when he says that the Warriors were not interested in Ayton during February. Especially since the social media page has now deleted its post, which claimed this interest.
What’s Next For Deandre Ayton?
According to Shams Charania, the Lakers could be a viable option for Ayton as they look for a lob threat to join forces with Luka Doncic. Especially if LeBron James ends up demanding a trade from the Lakers, then they will be in a full-blown rebuild around Doncic and Ayton, the former No. 1 pick (2018 NBA Draft), would be the perfect addition to that rebuild.
“When you think about the center position, Rob Pelinka, the president of basketball operations [for the Lakers] has been very clear, ‘we want to go find a center, whether that’s someone on the marketplace or not’. A guy like Brook Lopez, Clint Capela, Al Horford, Deandre Ayton, I just reported he finalized a contract buyout with the Lakers.”
“So there’s plenty now, of players in the potential market, who they could look at. Dorian Finney-Smith, he opted out of his $15.4 million deal today, so he’s going to be a free agent. Do they bring him back? So there’s going to be questions around the roster, very legitimate questions.”
Ayton was the third-best player on the 2021 Suns roster that went to the NBA Finals against the Bucks. He averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in the last season and is a credible lob threat with his 7’0 height and 7’6 wingspan. At age 26, he perfectly fits the timeline of the roster alongside Luka Doncic and could be a long-term solution for the Lakers if they decide to sign him in free agency.
His only issue is that he is very injury-prone. He only played 40 games last season due to an injury. Therefore, the Lakers will have to weigh the pros and cons if they decide to move for Ayton.
