Deandre Ayton struggled in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 128-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday. Ayton hasn’t been at his best lately, and Lakers insider Jovan Buha stated on his YouTube livestream that he has noticed a troubling trend regarding the big man.
“I’ve noticed that in losses, there is a really big gap in Deandre Ayton’s performance,” Buha said. “And this is not even factoring in tonight’s game, but this was going into tonight’s game. In wins, Deandre Ayton is averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes. In losses, he’s averaging 10 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.”
Buha pointed out that usually, when you look at such splits, the player tends to play far fewer minutes on average in losses. That’s not the case here with Ayton.
“He’s playing one fewer minute in losses,” Buha stated. “The Lakers have tended to keep their players in losses despite getting blown out or whatever. And that’s a notable drop from 17 points to 10 points and from 10 rebounds to seven rebounds. Then you look at his free-throw percentage, [it] falls off a cliff from 68% to 29%. Field goal percentage drops from 74% to 64%. True shooting percentage 74% to 63%.”
In this latest loss that dropped the Lakers to 20-11, Ayton had 10 points (5-8 FG), two rebounds, and one steal. The 27-year-old didn’t grab a single rebound in the first three quarters, and it was an awful showing. This is the second time in the last three games that he has only managed to get two rebounds.
Ayton was also powerless to prevent the Pistons from racking up 74 points in the paint. That’s not all on him, obviously, but you’d have liked to see him play with a lot more aggression and effort.
Ayton had quietened many of his doubters with how well he was playing back around November, when the Lakers went 11-2. The decision to sign him to a two-year, $16.6 million deal was being lauded, but opinions are now starting to shift again.
Before the season, Ayton had spoken about how he had heard all the talk of this being his final chance. He had disappointing stints with the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers, and stated he won’t take this opportunity for granted.
Despite this recent dip, we have seen more good than bad from Ayton so far. As Buha pointed out, he has played fairly well in wins. Ayton just needs to up his game when things aren’t going well. All of the Lakers’ losses this season have been by double-digits, and the big man’s shoulders can’t continue to drop when teams have the upper hand against them. If they do, his critics will get even more ammunition.
We’ll see Ayton in action next when the Lakers take on the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena on Friday at 10:30 PM ET.
