When this past offseason started for the Los Angeles Lakers, they badly needed a starting-caliber center. They got one when Deandre Ayton was bought out of his contract by the Portland Trail Blazers and agreed to a two-year, $16.6 million contract.
Ayton’s issues — a lack of rim protection and an offensive game that is solid but hasn’t improved since he was a rookie, among other things — were well documented. But it looked like the Lakers were getting a very solid starting center who would plug the massive hole they had at that position last season following the Luka Doncic trade.
The sentiment among Lakers fans is that Ayton has been a disappointment this season. He has had plenty of games where he has been a non-factor offensively, especially since the calendar turned over to 2026. He’s averaging 13.2 points a game on the season, but he’s at 11.5 points a game since the start of the new year.
According to a new ESPN article, after Ayton posted 21 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday’s 110-109 loss to the Orlando Magic, he expressed his displeasure with not getting the basketball enough at times.
“They’re trying to make me Clint Capela,” Ayton said, referring to the Houston Rockets’ now backup center, who a decade ago made his impact as a lob-catching, rim-running big on a team that made it to two conference finals.
“I’m not no Clint Capela!”
Ayton is certainly more gifted and skilled than Capela, who is mostly a lob-catcher and transition scorer on offense. But while the Lakers need to get the former No. 1 overall pick more involved, one source said that Ayton needs to hold up his end of the bargain.
“When he’s at his best, and we’ve seen it, we’ve seen glimpses of it, he’s playing with force,” a team source told ESPN. “And that’s playing with great force on both ends of the floor when it comes to screening. Then rolling and putting pressure on the rim; [when the] shot goes up, crashing the glass; sprinting back in transition; loading to the basketball; calling out your communication; being in the right positioning; contesting shots; boxing out. Those things for a big are just really thankless when you’re a skilled big. But on this team, that’s what his role is.
“He has to be a dirt worker.”
Ayton is starting to look like a barometer for Los Angeles. The team is 16-3 this season when he attempts at least 10 field goals, yet he entered Thursday’s game against the Phoenix Suns averaging nine shot attempts a game, which is a career low for him.
His rebounding has clearly helped L.A. — he’s grabbing 8.5 boards in 28.2 minutes a game — but fans, teammates and coaches want to see more scoring and more dirty work from him. If they get those things from him, perhaps the team can go a little farther in this spring’s NBA playoffs than currently anticipated.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Deandre Ayton: ‘I’m not no Clint Capela!’
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
