Luka Doncic & LeBron James Commend Deandre Ayton

There were a lot of question marks surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers going into this season with one of the being the center position after adding Deandre Ayton.

After securing a buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers, Ayton came to Los Angeles with hopes of playing alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James to rehabilitate his career. But as a center who likes his short rolls and pocket passes, those ball-handlers have to get reps to learn where Ayton wants to be successful.

Now that everyone is healthy for the most part, on-court chemistry is clearly starting to pick up and the starting big man is getting easy buckets. Ayton missed one game with a knee contusion and came back with 17 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-9 from the field in Friday night’s win over the Dallas Mavericks.

It was only one game, but the Lakers missed what the former Arizona Wildcat brought to their offense. Doncic spoke about how meaningful Ayton is for the team during this early part of the regular season.

“He’s been amazing for us the whole season,” Doncic said. “Since the start until now, he’s been amazing. He will keep doing what he does. Sometimes I need to get him more looks. But the way he plays on both ends of the floor has been amazing. I really appreciate him.”

In just four games into his 23rd season, James is also noticing what the former No. 1 pick brings to the table, along with developing pick-and-roll chemistry.

“Everything that we ask him to do, he does it,” James said. “Then it’s our responsibility to give him the ball when he is open. It’s our responsibility to attract the eyes off of him, for him to get good looks. He’s making them all count. It was a big force for us. He sets pretty much 80 percent of our pick-and-roll. Jax [Jaxson Hayes] sets a lot. I’ll sprinkle in a little bit here and there, but he’s a big-time player for us offensively and defensively. [He’s] anchoring our defense with the communication, things of that nature. In a pick-and-roll heavy league, it’s great to have that safety net when we’re doubled or whatever the case may be to find him.”

Up to this point, Ayton has been a great addition to an already explosive Lakers offense. A lot was made about his character, but he appears bought into what head coach JJ Redick is selling.

Hopefully, this buy-in remains for the rest of the season because the ceiling for L.A. can be extremely high with him playing at this level.

Deandre Ayton marvels at Austin Reaves’ scoring ability

Deandre Ayton has not played with three gifted scorers like this in his career and it makes his life as a center easier. But Austin Reaves’ emergence as a scorer continues to impress and even Ayton marveled about how easily he can score the basketball.