Report: Trade prices are ‘high’ after Lakers’ exposed package for Mark Williams

After some anxious waiting, fans of the Los Angeles Lakers were finally able to exhale a little bit when the team agreed to a deal with center Deandre Ayton this week.

Ayton, who was bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers, became a free agent after clearing waivers, and he seemingly fell right into L.A.’s lap as a solution for the team’s center situation.

The Lakers, who also recently agreed to bring back center Jaxson Hayes, now have some clarity at the position months after their trade for fellow center Mark Williams fell apart.

According to a report, teams who had centers available for trade kept their asking prices “high” in talks with the Lakers after L.A. exposed what it was willing to pay for Williams.

“Teams who had centers available were keeping their price for the Lakers high when they called, sources said, after they had established what they were willing to pay for Mark Williams (in February’s rescinded trade),” wrote ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst.

Los Angeles was prepared to trade small forwards Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and valuable draft capital (one first-round pick and one pick swap) to the Charlotte Hornets for Williams in February before the deal collapsed.

In the end, the Lakers are going to be able to enter the new season with a center situation that is stable enough to make them interesting in the Western Conference.

Ayton isn’t perfect, but he was the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 for a reason, and the fact that he’s joining a contending team might motivate him to take his game to another level.

This past season, he averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. In each season of his NBA career, he has averaged a double-double, giving him career averages of 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest.

But effort concerns are among the questions that have followed Ayton during his career, something he’ll need to put to rest with the Purple and Gold. He doesn’t need to be the best player the Lakers have, but he does need to be reliable in his role and help make life easier on L.A.’s stars.

Hayes, meanwhile, should find himself playing a more reasonable role this coming season after he was forced to start many games for the Lakers in the 2024-25 campaign.