Deandre Ayton Doesn’t Believe He Fits the Role the Lakers Need Him to Play

The Lakers lost to the Magic on Tuesday night, in part thanks to a poor decision by Luka Dončić to pass up an open, potentially game-tying three-point shot in the final seconds. There weren’t many positives to take away from the rough loss for Los Angeles but Deandre Ayton’s play definitely qualifies as one.

The offseason signee put up a 21-point, 13-rebound double-double and missed only three of his 11 shots from the floor. It was just the sort of game the Lakers were hoping for when they signed him. Ayton set physical screens, rolled hard into the paint, defended well and crashed the boards; the scoring output is just a bonus given the roster employs Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

In an ideal world Ayton does that every night. But his idea of what his role is on this roster is at odds with what the Lakers need. After the loss to the Magic on Tuesday Ayton made a loud declaration in the locker room which perfectly illustrates that gap, as documented by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“They're trying to make me Clint Capela,” Ayton said as he headed to the showers following his postgame interview. “I'm not no Clint Capela!”

Capela was a dirty work maestro of a center for the Rockets back in the James Harden days who defined the rim-running, paint-protecting archetype for big men in today’s spaced-out NBA. He made himself a key part of multiple very good Houston teams by locking down the paint on both ends and setting endless screens for Harden and Chris Paul and the like—even if he never averaged more than 16.6 points per game.

Ayton clearly aspires to be more featured than Capela ever was for those teams, which was evident even before his statement Tuesday. Back in January coach JJ Redick acknowledged the big man was “frustrated” by his limited touches in the Lakers’ offense and said it was only “human nature” for Ayton’s engagement to wane when he wasn’t getting the ball.

The problem? The Lakers need exactly the opposite from Ayton. They need a center who doesn’t care how many times his star teammates pass him the ball—just like Capela.

Why Deandre Ayton is so important for the Lakers’ success

The strengths and weaknesses of this year’s Los Angeles team are not hard to spot. Thanks to the three-headed monster of offensive superstars that lead the roster, the purple and gold have zero trouble scoring points; the Lakers rank first in the NBA in field goal percentage. However, all three of those players are minus defenders, reflected in Los Angeles posting the sixth-worst defensive rating in the league so far this year. That issue is exacerbated by the Lakers’ middling rebounding numbers.

Ayton was signed to help address those problems. He has the size, length and athleticism to alter opposing shots in the paint every time down the floor while offering great switchability on the perimeter. His physical build allowed him to crush the boards and average a double-double in every season of his career to this point. In theory Ayton offers everything the Lakers want in a starting center; a supercharged version of Capela in many ways.

But Ayton doesn’t want to just set picks and dive into the paint to set up easy alley-oops for his star teammates. He doesn’t want to be Capela. According to the above quotes his effort wanes when he feels like he’s only doing Capela things.

Which gets to the heart of the matter—Los Angeles has zero recourse for when Ayton isn’t engaged. His backup, Jaxson Hayes, can jump through the roof but is below average in pretty much every other regard. The roster doesn’t offer another center beyond him. The Lakers are extremely reliant on Ayton to man the middle because otherwise they have no competitive answer for opposing big men in the frontcourt. That is especially a problem in the West where contenders opposite the Lakers boast massive talent at center in the form of Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Rudy Gobert.

Los Angeles slid to the sixth seed this week and enter Thursday night at 34–23. A playoff berth is all but guaranteed at this point. However, if the Lakers want to stick around the same fate as last season (when the Timberwolves summarily knocked them out of the first round of the playoffs by dominating the interior) Ayton will need to step up. And he'll need to step up in the way Capela did for many years.

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