Blake Griffin gives his verdict on Luka Doncic’s fitness and defense after first look at new LA Lakers

Blake Griffin names his biggest question about the LA Lakers after opening night loss

The Lakers hoped their trio of Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Ayton could step up in the absence of James and win some hard-fought games early in the season. So far, so bad on that front. 

Only one of their big names delivered, and despite Doncic’s monster opening night, the Lakers didn’t have the firepower to compete with the Warriors down the stretch. 

Griffin said he still has significant concerns about the Lakers’ ability to defend, despite Doncic looking more effective on that front to start the season.

Speaking on the Zach Lowe Show, he said, “My biggest question is I don’t know how you guard the backcourt with having to play Luka and Austin Reaves 34 plus minutes a game.

“That was their Achilles heel last year, rebounding was their Achilles heel. The Ayton experiment, we’ll see how long that goes for. I thought they were incredibly flat.

“The one good thing was Luka looked great. He was in good shape. He was active defensively. A couple of steals even had a block. I was also encouraged with how he looked in the second quarter and the fourth quarter, he still looked fresh.

“I know it’s game one, but I’m largely disappointed. I think Austin Reaves scored maybe 13 in the fourth quarter, and 11 of them were probably in the last six minutes. You look at the box score and you see he had 26 and you go, ‘Oh, he had a pretty good game, ’ but it was too little, too late at that point.”

Ayton was widely criticized for his Lakers debut, as he disappeared during large stretches of the game. And Griffin says he wishes the former number one pick would do something that would completely change how he is guarded. 

Blake Griffin’s biggest wish for DeAndre Ayton

Ayton admitted after the Warriors loss that he’s a difficult big man to play with. He looked disconnected from Doncic in the pick-and-roll, as instead of rolling hard to the hoop, he would drift into the midrange, hoping to utilize more of a finesse game. 

Lakers fans were frustrated by Ayton, and this is a trend we have seen over the last few seasons from the big man. The Portland Trail Blazers cut Ayton this summer after just two seasons with the team. 

But Griffin thinks that if Ayton simply rolls to the hoop harder and more often, it can change the Lakers’ entire team.

He explained: “He has to roll, and roll hard two, three times early in the game. Then he can maybe do his little thing. If you’re trying to throw him a bone and let him get those little short rolls like it feels like he wants to do, it just feels like he’s just always kind of in the wrong place.

“He’s got that next gear to go to. He doesn’t have to be a 25 and 15 guy, he just needs to be a 12 and 12 and make the right play guy.

“And it will go so far for Luka, go so far for the Lakers, their defense, everything. So, that was a little bit disappointing. I don’t know that I was expecting a huge turnaround from the Ayton that we’ve seen over the years, but that’s just kind of what I saw.”

It sounds like Griffin is close to giving up on Ayton being a productive NBA player. Many hoped that playing alongside Doncic would help him recapture the form that helped his Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals in 2021. 

But it is only one game, so there is time for Ayton to find a way to have a positive impact on his new team.