Bahamian professional basketball player DeAndre Ayton is looking forward to shifting narratives during the upcoming 2025-26 National Basketball Association (NBA) season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ayton was recently bought out by the Portland Trail Blazers and subsequently picked up by the Lakers on a two-year deal via free agency.
Despite averaging a double-double for his seventh consecutive season, the 26-year-old faced criticism about his motor as a player following his departure from Portland. He addressed those concerns during his Lakers introductory press conference on Tuesday.
“It fuels me, it fuels me up completely,” he said. “It’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. This is the perfect timing, here in the purple and gold, and it’s a platform that I cannot run from. I can show what I really am and just be around some greats to really emphasize that for me as well. It is a lot of fuel in me to prove to the whole world.”
The former number one overall pick of the 2018 NBA Draft is set to join a Lakers organization that has championship aspirations as its top priority going into next season.
It is hoped that Ayton will shoulder the load in the Lakers’ frontcourt. The team had a significant drop-off at the center position after shipping out star Anthony Davis in exchange for Luka Dončić in a three-team deal prior to the NBA trade deadline last season.
The Lakers started to find their stride toward the end of the regular season, but they were unable to overcome their frontcourt deficiencies during the NBA Western Conference playoffs.
Their postseason run ended with a 4-1 series loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
Ayton appears to be helping the Lakers address that issue. He is the first player since NBA champion Dwight Howard to average a double-double in his first seven seasons in the league. He is embracing the opportunity to play for the franchise, especially alongside LeBron James and Dončić.
“They both average about nine assists over their career span, and just the type of players they create with their teammates, is a good sign,” Ayton said. “They turn them (teammates) into superstars, they make them bigger than their roles, they make them very important on the floor. Just seeing that and finally getting the chance to go in and experience that would be big for me. Just getting me back to my full form of how I used to play — coming up and being a part of the [NBA] Finals — is something I’m looking forward to. It’s those playmakers I’m used to having around me that’s leading to wins.”
The seven-foot center averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in 40 appearances with the Trail Blazers last season.
Prior to his stint in Portland, Ayton played five seasons with the Phoenix Suns, who drafted him in 2018. He reached the NBA Finals with the Suns in 2021 before being traded to the Trail Blazers in a three-team deal in 2023. The Blazers were in rebuilding mode and failed to finish above .500 in back-to-back seasons.
The Bahamian big man said it feels good to be on a team with championship aspirations again.
“They want to win a championship right now, and I want to win right now as well and just be part of a winning legacy and be around winners. Everyone said it was something difficult to think about, but it just brings me back to playing with the Suns and being part of a winning organization. Once you win, everything is easy, and that’s what I want to be a part of again. The last two years [were] just a different route for me and I just learned a lot that when you don’t win in this league, you can be forgotten,” he said.
Ayton is looking to follow in the footsteps of Bahamian NBA champions Mychal ‘Sweet Bells’ Thompson and Rick Fox, who both won multiple titles with the Lakers.