One NBA executive called the Los Angeles Lakers’ experiment with center Deandre Ayton in the 2025-26 season a “disaster.”
“It’s hard to see his time in that role as anything but a disaster,” the executive said, per Heavy Sports. “The thing with Ayton is he usually does just enough for his team to think he is going to take a step forward. Then he never takes that step forward, and you go through it all over again.
“Everything the Lakers tried to do with him in the regular season was aimed at making him just be serviceable in the playoffs. Like, just serviceable–catch the ball, rebounds the ball, move around in the paint. Do that, and the whole Ayton experiment for them would be successful. He did not do that, though. Disaster.”
A former No. 1 overall pick, Ayton signed with the Lakers ahead of the 2025-26 season after he was bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers landed Ayton on a relatively cheap deal, but he didn’t ascend to new heights in his first season in Los Angeles.
The 27-year-old averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during the regular season, shooting 67.1 percent from the field. While Ayton was efficient, he failed to average a double-double for the first time in his NBA career.
In 10 playoff appearances, Ayton played 28.5 minutes per game and averaged just 10.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He wasn’t on the floor during some key moments. Even with star guard Luka Doncic out for Los Angeles’ entire playoff run, Ayton was unable to take a step forward as a scorer.
Ayton has a player option for the 2026-27 season, so it’s unclear if he’ll be back with the Lakers. The former top pick could opt into his contract to guarantee himself over $8 million next season, but he also could opt to test the open market as a free agent.
Even if Ayton decides to opt in, there’s no guarantee that he’ll be on the Lakers by the start of next season, as the team could explore options to trade him in an attempt to upgrade the roster.
While the aforementioned NBA executive believes that the Ayton experiment was a disaster, the 27-year-old did appear in 72 games for Los Angeles, giving it some stability at the position. After trading away star big man Anthony Davis in the 2024-25 season, the Lakers were desperate to find an answer at center and gave it a shot with Ayton.
The Lakers only made the second round of the playoffs this season, but it’s impressive that they even won a single playoff series with Doncic and fellow star Austin Reaves both dealing with injuries.
There are a lot of decisions that the Lakers have to make this offseason, and Ayton’s future is among them, especially if he decides to opt into his current deal.
