The Los Angeles Lakers are shopping for a center these days, and luckily for them, a new and exciting big man asset may have become available.
It’s been widely assumed for weeks that LA will end up with someone like Jonas Valančiūnas of the Washington Wizards or Robert Williams III of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Two further, dreamier targets for the Lakers at center are Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz and Jakob Poeltl of the Toronto Raptors, but both will be difficult to come by.
Now, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, a new name has surfaced on the market for centers, and it’s not a small name at that.
In fact, he’s a former No. 1 overall pick.
Fischer revealed on Friday that while many have assumed the Trail Blazers are shopping Williams III, they actually might prefer to sell Deandre Ayton, who is currently in year three of a four-year, $133 million contract.
Apparently, Portland likes the value they are getting out of Williams III for what they are paying him, which presumably isn’t how they feel about Ayton.
The emergence of Donovan Clingan as a viable NBA rim protector in Portland also probably has something to do with the Trail Blazers losing interest in retaining Ayton.
Whatever the reason may be, Ayton could become available on the trade market soon, which means teams that need a center (i.e. the Lakers) will be tempted to trade for the 26-year-old seven-footer.
Ayton would undoubtedly be a nice pickup for the Lake Show. While he’s never turned into the franchise center that the Phoenix Suns hoped he would be when they made him the first overall pick, Ayton has been far from a bust.
He’s averaged 16.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in his career thus far on 59.0 percent from the field. He’s not a bad free throw shooter, either, especially for someone of his stature. He’s a 76.0 percent shooter from the stripe over his career.
Should the Lakers prepare an offer for Ayton? He and Anthony Davis could be a monstrous frontcourt in Los Angeles.
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