It took only a couple of games in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform for a large chunk of the public to turn on the Deandre Ayton experiment in Hollywood. Is that a touch premature? Perhaps it is. However, there are plenty who are already waiting for the experience to end.
The nightmare provided by Ayton in the season debut for the Lakers was just too much for some to overlook. Calls for the matchup against the Golden State Warriors to be the last opening night in purple and gold for the new big man in Los Angeles quickly flooded.
For those in the camp of having seen enough from Ayton already, there was good news to be found in the words of Jake Fischer. The NBA insider delivered a big statement regarding the future of the former first overall pick in Los Angeles during a livestream for Bleacher Report.
Fischer said, "Deandre Ayton brought a suboptimal performance for his opening debut. ... Agents and rival teams are looking at the Lakers as not having found their center of the future. Deandre Ayton is not, by any stretch, the big man pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic for the next decade."
2026 restricted free agency could have the answer Lakers need at center
If Ayton is not the big man that holds down the starting center spot in Los Angeles for the Doncic era, where do the Lakers find that player? Fischer's answer to the subject was one that Lake Show Life has already suggested, actually. That would be the 2026 restricted free agency field.
Fischer thought that securing Ayton at a discounted price after his buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers was a win 'on a cap sheet standpoint.' Getting a starting center on that type of number was a good move, whatever way one may analyze it.
However, centers are getting ready to hit the open market next year, and the Lakers have cap space. Rob Pelinka should be in the business of seeking out upgrades.
Fischer highlighted restricted free agents like Walker Kessler and Jalen Duren as two names worth monitoring for the Lakers. Those two were names that were likewise mentioned in the write-up on Lake Show Life that was previously referenced,
Fischer thought agents and players will be eyeing the Lakers' center situation as something they can be the benefactor of. If Ayton does not quickly prove everyone wrong, his run with the Lakers is quickly poised to be a brief one.