Deandre Ayton has been a pretty polarizing player for the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
At times he’s played well and earned praise from his teammates and head coach J.J. Redick. Other times though, his effort has been questioned which resulted in him landing in Redick’s doghouse.
Deandre Ayton Named Los Angeles Lakers’ Postseason X-Factor
Heading into postseason play, the Lakers will need the best version of Ayton, especially on the defensive end of the floor. As a result, he was named L.A.’s biggest playoff X-factor by Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports.
“But if Dončić is unable to return during the first round, the key to the Lakers getting through the Rockets could be their defense with Ayton at the center of it. … The Lakers have run the fourth-most zone defense in the league and allowed opponents to post only a 104.5 offensive rating, the best of the 21 teams to log at least 100 zone plays,” O’Connor wrote.
“Meanwhile, the Rockets have posted the ninth-worst offensive rating against zone defense this season. If Ayton can anchor this Los Angeles defense, while also using his size to score scrappy points in the paint, the Lakers might be able to sneak past Houston, giving Dončić and Austin Reaves enough time to recover before the second round.”
During the regular season, Ayton started in 72 games for the Lakers and averaged 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 block in 27.7 minutes per performance. Those numbers will probably have to increase across the board in the postseason.
Deandre Ayton Is Extremely Excited for His First Postseason with the Lakers
Ayton is certainly bringing the right attitude into the postseason for L.A., as he expressed extreme excitement about the opportunity to make a playoff impact for the league’s most prestigious franchise.
“Yeah, I’m almost speechless,” Ayton said. “Especially being on this side of town now, playing in L.A. This place can get pretty loud. I’m still just trying to go on and embrace everything. I know we haven’t ramped up yet coming out of these practices. You’re thinking about the environment, thinking about the fans, thinking about the first game as a Laker in the playoffs.”
The good news for the Lakers is that Ayton plans to channel that excitement into on-court effort.
“I’ve been here before, but I am truly excited. .. “I want to do backflips,” Ayton said. “I’m in the purple and gold and I want to really just play hard as hell to contribute to wins.”
There’s a lot on the line for Ayton this offseason. He has an $8 million player option on his current contract for next season that could turn down in favor of a new deal in free agency – either in L.A. or elsewhere.
If he plays well, he could potentially boost his own stock and make himself a lot of money in free agency. But if he plays poorly, the opposite could occur and he could lose himself a lot of money. So, the big man should be extremely motivated to bring his best ball to the playoffs for the Lakers.
Polarizing Player Named Los Angeles Lakers’ Biggest Playoff X-Factor