Los Angeles — The Los Angeles Lakers are entering the final 25 games of the regular season clinging to sixth place in the Western Conference, and inside the organization one theme keeps surfacing: the team will go only as far as Deandre Ayton’s energy and effort can carry them.
An up-and-down centerpiece
Ayton’s latest performance underscored the paradox. In Tuesday’s 118-115 loss to the Orlando Magic, the 27-year-old center delivered 21 points on 11 shots and a game-high 13 rebounds, outworking Orlando’s front line of Wendell Carter Jr., Paolo Banchero and Jonathan Isaac. Yet a critical late-game screenplay he set for Luka Doncic — which freed the guard for an open look that ultimately became a desperate pass to LeBron James — drew little notice amid postgame scrutiny.
“The ball finds energy,” Ayton said afterward, crediting teammates for rewarding his rim runs. Heading to the showers, however, he voiced frustration: “They’re trying to make me Clint Capela. I’m not no Clint Capela!”
Numbers that tell two stories
The former No. 1 overall pick is averaging 13.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks while shooting a career-best 66.7% — the league’s second-highest mark behind Rudy Gobert and the best by a Laker since Wilt Chamberlain in 1972-73. Los Angeles is 16-3 when he attempts at least 10 shots, but only three of those wins came with James, Doncic and Austin Reaves all available.
He has appeared in 49 games, second on the roster to Jake LaRavia, yet coaches and scouts still question his night-to-night engagement. “He picks and chooses when he wants to lock in and play,” one Western Conference scout told ESPN.
Searching for the right fit
Head coach JJ Redick has tried to empower Ayton while stressing a “dirt-worker” mentality: setting bruising screens, sprinting the floor, protecting the rim and crashing the glass. According to team tracking, Ayton averages 15.7 on-ball screens per game for Doncic — third-most among any duo with at least 200 such actions — and 3.7 screen assists, fourth in the NBA.
Teammates see the difference when he embraces that role. “He changes our ceiling,” Reaves said. Marcus Smart echoed that sentiment, noting Ayton still has “another notch” to reach.
Flashes of dominance, lapses of focus
The season opened with promise: six 20-point, 10-rebound outings in the first 15 games, including victories over Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks. Momentum stalled during a 4-7 stretch from Dec. 20 to Jan. 12. After a four-point effort in Memphis on Jan. 2, Ayton remarked, “Bigs can’t feed themselves.” Redick responded by running the first play for him two nights later; Ayton finished with 15 points, eight boards and three blocks.
Inconsistency resurfaced after the All-Star break. He followed a 13-point, seven-rebound, plus-12 fourth quarter in a 125-122 win over the L.A. Clippers with a four-point, four-foul showing against the Boston Celtics, playing only three fourth-quarter minutes despite Lakers legends attending Pat Riley’s statue ceremony. Film review highlighted one possession in which Ayton jogged upcourt during a 5-on-4 advantage. “He could be better there,” Redick said.
Off-court detour, contract stakes ahead
Ayton spent the break rehabbing knee soreness in the Bahamas, where he was briefly detained over what his attorney called a “very small amount” of marijuana that was not his. He rejoined the Lakers without missing any team activities, and the franchise considers the episode a misunderstanding.
His long-term future is also in play. Ayton relinquished $10 million of a $35.6 million 2025-26 salary to exit Portland and sign a one-year deal with Los Angeles last summer. A deep postseason run could convert that gamble into a multi-year payday; a stumble would leave his value in question across the league.
“It’s a platform that I cannot run from,” Ayton said at his introductory news conference in July. With 25 games to prove it, the Lakers — and Ayton’s next contract — are waiting on his answer.
Source: ESPN
