There have been some positives and some negatives in these early stages of Deandre Ayton's tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. Former NBA All-Star turned analyst Blake Griffin recently shared his thoughts on where he believes Ayton can improve, citing his lack of hard rolls to the rim as one particular area where he sees improvement being a major needle-mover.
"The Ayton thing, he's got to roll," Griffin said on a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show. "He has to roll, and roll hard. Two, three times early in the game, then he can maybe do his little thing. If you're trying to throw him a bone and let him get those little short rolls, like it feels like he wants to do, I just think it just feels like he's always kind of in the wrong place.
"He's got like that next gear to go to where he doesn't have to be a 25 and 15 guy. He just needs to be a 12 and 12 and make the right play guy. And it will go so far for Luka [Doncic], it will go so far for the Lakers, their defense, everything. So that was a little bit disappointing. I don't know that I was expecting a huge turnaround from the Ayton that we've seen over the years, but that's what I saw."
Blake Griffin wants to see Deandre Ayton rolling hard to the rim
This I think echoes what a lot of fans and analysts alike have been saying ever since Ayton's acquisition was first made. Deandre's game can feel a bit clunky in certain spots, but the focus going forward is ultimately just going to be about leaning into the traits that make him so talented and a game-changing player.
Griffin says it best. This Lakers team does not need Ayton to put up 20 or 30 points and 15 rebounds per night in order to have the maximum amount of positive influence on the Lakers as they look to rack up wins. He simply has to focus more on doing all the little things right, and the rest is going to come.
We knew that with as much skepticism and hype combined as there was that came with Deandre's arrival in Los Angeles, conversations like this one were always going to spark pretty early into the regular season. We shouldn't be surprised if it takes a few games or even a few weeks for Ayton to really get acclimated and understand his perfect role with the Lakers. Once he figures it out, this team will undoubtedly look much different in the best way possible.