The Los Angeles Lakers made the decision to sign Deandre Ayton during the summer after he was released by the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers were confident they could address his concerns and help him turn things around. However, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins labeled him a diva.
“The word around the league is not good about Deandre Ayton... right now he's been labeled as a diva, as a cancer in the locker room... he has to change a lot about himself or he will find his career being shortened,” Perkins said.
The Lakers have slowly started to reduce Ayton’s minutes as he has struggled to keep his composure when things do not go his way. In fact, Jaxson Hayes has been playing better since the All-Star break.
“Los Angeles has been better off for it too. Ayton (-47) has the worst plus-minus of any Laker since the All-Star break. Hayes has the best one on the team (+73), by contrast. Ayton also possesses the worst net rating (-12.4) of any player who has averaged at least 10 minutes per game since the break. Predictably, Hayes is the best in that category too, posting a mark of 30.0,” Lake Show Life’s Svyatoslav Rovenchuk wrote. “It is tough to know what the Lakers would face if they truly were bold enough to make the call on demoting Ayton to the bench and allowing Hayes to permanently reassume the starting spot.”
The main problem is that Ayton has a player option. If Ayton exercises it, that could become disastrous for the Lakers.
“The Los Angeles Lakers plan on improving their roster around Luka Dončić this summer, but they may have to deal with Deandre Ayton first. The player holds the power thanks to Rob Pelinka and the front office. They handed out a player option, and will instantly regret it if he opts in,” Lake Show Life’s Tyler Watts wrote.
The Lakers organization is expected to have a big summer building around Dončić, but that process may not move forward until the Ayton situation is resolved. This is likely to become a major talking point throughout the offseason until something changes.
Dončić wants the Lakers to build a roster capable of competing for a championship. However, mindset is everything, and Ayton has yet to show that he can keep it in check for an entire season.