Lakers agree to two-year, $16.6 million deal with Deandre Ayton

Deandre Ayton will reportedly be signing with the Lakers, providing a big boost to the team’s frontcourt.

The wait is over. The Lakers have a center, and his name is Deandre Ayton.

Los Angeles have reportedly agreed to a two-year, $16.6 million deal with Ayton after he cleared waivers on Wednesday, as first reported by longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein.

According to NBA reporter Jake Fischer, Ayton’s deal is for two years with the first year starting at $8.1 million while Shams Charania of ESPN added that the second year is a player option. That is the remainder of the MLE the team had after signing Jake LaRavia to a two-year deal as well.

On Sunday, Ayton was surprisingly bought out of his contract after he was set to earn $35 million this upcoming season. He reportedly forfeited $10 million on his buyout, which pretty much set the market on what he was looking for in his next contract.

Ayton joining the Lakers provides them with a scoring threat inside and a viable option at the five. He averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds for Portland this past season.

Ayton has been a double-double machine his entire career. He is one of four players to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in each of the past seven seasons with the others being Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert and Nikola Vucevic.

While Ayton is a nice addition for Los Angeles, he is far from a perfect player. This is now the third team he’ll play for during his eight-year NBA career.

Health is a concern with Ayton. A calf strain ended his season early last year. Ayton has also dealt with lower back issues, ankle injuries and knee soreness, all of which have forced him to miss time throughout his career. He only played in 40 games last season and has played 63 or more games in his career just three times.

Still, the allure of Ayton having a redemption arc as a Laker is an opportunity too good to pass up.

Now that he will reportedly be coming to Los Angeles, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka has taken a huge step toward fixing the lack of depth at the center position. Pelinka made it clear that addressing the lack of frontcourt depth was a priority this offseason.

Ayton is far and away better than any big the Lakers had last year, but more reinforcements at the five could be on the way.

Al Horford has been linked to the Lakers and is one of the very few remaining viable big men still available in free agency. The Lakers have also been connected with the likes of Robert Williams III, Nick Richards and Yves Missi, all being rumored potential targets.

This live story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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