Lakers $16M veteran reportedly looking to save his future amid Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves absence
There is lots of opportunity with Doncic and Reaves missing some of the playoffs.
Lakers $16M veteran reportedly looking to save his future amid Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves absence originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Los Angeles Lakers made the decision to sign Deandre Ayton after he cleared waivers in the summer.
The move drew some criticism, as Ayton has at times been labeled a locker-room issue around the league due to concerns about his maturity. “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,” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins said. To begin the season, it appeared Ayton had turned a corner while playing alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James. At one point, he was even considered one of the biggest steals of free agency.
“There is still a level of caution revolving around Deandre Ayton that is hard to shake. However, in the very early parts of the Ayton experience for the Los Angeles Lakers, it is likewise difficult to shake the present feeling that Rob Pelinka and the front office made the biggest steal of the summer,” Lake Show Life’s Syvatoslav Rovenchuk wrote. “The more Ayton continues to look like someone who can reliably fix the concerns of last season, the more his $8.