EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Former Portland center Deandre Ayton has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent, two people with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal could not yet be announced between the Lakers and Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft -- two spots ahead of Luka Doncic.
The Trail Blazers bought out Ayton's contract last weekend, and he has agreed to join Doncic and LeBron James on a deal for the upcoming season with a player option for 2026-27. He will be paid more than $25 million by the Blazers while playing for the Lakers next year.
Ayton's arrival fills the Lakers' most glaring offseason need, providing a lob target for Doncic and James. And while Ayton isn't known as a defensive stopper, the 7-footer will provide the size in the middle that the Lakers have missed since trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic in February.
Ayton, who turns 27 this month, spent his first five NBA seasons with the Phoenix Suns before joining the Trail Blazers two years ago as part of the three-team trade sending Damian Lillard to Milwaukee.
Ayton struggled at times in Portland while playing for mediocre teams, but he has averaged 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds during his seven NBA seasons while making 59% of his shots. He played only 40 games for the Trail Blazers last season, getting sidelined for the rest of the year in February by a strained calf.
While he has never been an All-Star, Ayton is the only player to average a double-double in points and rebounds in his first seven NBA seasons since former Lakers center Dwight Howard did it more than a decade ago with the Orlando Magic.
Ayton also knows Southern California after moving from the Bahamas to San Diego to play high school basketball. He went on to the University of Arizona before the Suns drafted him.
The Lakers struggled without Davis in the paint last season, with Jaxson Hayes playing poorly enough to get benched by Coach JJ Redick in their final two playoff games. Los Angeles was eliminated from the first round of the postseason by Minnesota in five games, with big man Rudy Gobert racking up 27 points and 24 rebounds in the clinching victory while the Lakers largely played without a center.
They tried to address their lack of big men by trading for Charlotte center Mark Williams at the deadline, but the Lakers canceled the deal citing his physical. Williams, 23, averaged 15.3 points and 10.2 rebounds this past season, but he appeared just 44 times and has played in just 106 games across his first three NBA seasons. The Suns traded for Williams during the draft on June 25.
In other deals Wednesday, Spencer Dinwiddie agreed to join the Hornets on a one-year deal and Dante Exum struck a one-year agreement with the Mavericks. Both deals were first reported by ESPN.
Dinwiddie, 32, will join his sixth team for a 12th NBA season. A second-round pick by Detroit in 2014, Dinwiddie averaged 11.0 points and 4.4 assists this past season with Dallas. He averaged career highs of 20.6 points and 6.8 assists with Brooklyn in 2019-20.
Exum, 29, the No. 5 overall pick to Utah in the same draft as Dinwiddie, played 20 games with the Mavericks this past season, his second back in the NBA after spending two years overseas. When on the court in 2024-25, he averaged a career-high 8.7 points. He played 55 regular-season games with Dallas in 2023-24 and made 21 appearances during its run to the NBA Finals.