“If you’re gonna take a risk, it’s going to be on a player who has all of the things you need in the skillset. But like you said, maybe there are certainly very relevant and locker room and all those types of concerns” said ‘Locked on Warriors’ host Kylen Mills on Deandre Ayton. The Los Angeles Lakers’ newest acquisition to fill the Center position had been receiving mixed reactions since Shams Charania first broke the news. Some claimed he addressed what the Lakers needed, while others referred to the two years he spent with the Portland Trail Blazers to cast doubt on not only his production, but also his willingness to give his best effort.
After days of anticipation, Deandre Ayton finally participated in his first press conference as a Laker. During the same, he was asked if he had heard criticism of his play over the past few years. This especially included his time with the Portland Trail Blazers, during which his average scoring dropped lower than it already was. Ayton replied, “Most definitely. It fuels me. It fuels me up completely. And it’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. I think this is the perfect timing, here in the Purple and Gold. And it’s a platform that I cannot run from. I can show what I really am and just be around some greats to really emphasize that for me as well. It is a lot of fuel in me to prove to the whole world.”
The Athletic’s Jason Quick had given a rundown of several issues that had risen up during Ayton’s time with the Blazers. It included everything from “the tardiness to team flights and practices”, “the skipping of rehabilitation appointments”, slamming chairs when he was taken out of games in full view of fans, and throwing tantrums in the locker room after getting sidelined for “poor effort”. Furthermore, even after 7 years in the league, Deandre Ayton He doesn’t have any All-Star Games on his resume, and he’s also rarely showcased the dominance that he could have brought to the NBA out of Arizona.
(This is a developing story.)
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