Bahamian professional basketball player DeAndre Ayton is set to be on the move in the National Basketball Association (NBA) again.
With a year remaining on his contract, it is being reported that Ayton is finalizing a contract buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers to become a free agent.
As first reported locally in the Nassau Guardian, the Blazers are looking to move on from the former number one overall draft pick of the Phoenix Suns. The Bahamian, who will turn 27 later this month, was set to have a slary cap hit of more than $30 million dollars for the Blazers next season. He had $35.6 million left on a contract that was set to expire next summer.
Be that as it may, ESPN is reporiting that the buyout was initiated by Ayton. It is being reported that he and his representatives approached the Blazers about a buyout and wanting to play in a winning situation.
Already, there are a number of suitors and interested parties in Ayton.
The Los Angeles Lakers is one of those teams which had big man issues from last year, and it’s definitely a concern for them going into the 2025-2026 season. Ayton, a seven-footer at 252 pounds, would certainly be an upgrade over anyone on the Lakers roster at the center position, in particular Jaxson Hayes, who started for them at the five down the stretch of the season.
Ayton can sign with any team, including those in both salary cap windows, despite earning more than $14.1 million. The waiver restriction that would normally prevent a player with a bloated contract from signing with a team that is over the salary cap only applies during the regular season, according to ESPN.
At the moment, the amount of the buyout from the Blazers is undisclosed, but it allows the Bahamian big man to move on from a rebuild in Portland, and it helps the team clear up a crowded center room that includes recent first round draft picks Donovan Clingan (No. 7 in 2024) and Yang Hansen (No. 16 pick in 2025). The Blazers also have Robert Williams III and Duop Reath under contract.
The Blazers acquired Ayton from the Suns in September 2023 in a three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Ayton averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 56.6 percent from the field last season, and has averaged a double-double in each of his seven years in the league.
Ayton is the first player to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in each of his first seven NBA seasons since Dwight Howard, whose career began in 2004-05, and is also one of four players to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in each of the past seven seasons, along with Milwaukee Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Nikola Vučević, of the Chicago Bulls.
Ayton was the number one overall pick of the Suns in 2018. He was named to the 2018-2019 All-NBA Rookie Team, and he averaged 16.7 points and 10.4 rebounds while shooting 59.7 percent from the field in his five seasons with Phoenix. He helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021.
Ayton spent the last two years in Portland, but only played 40 games last season, and appeared in only 95 out of a possible 164 games over the past two seasons, due to various injuries. The Blazers finished with a losing record and missed the postseason in each of Ayton’s two years with the team.