Spare a thought if you can for former Phoenix Suns first overall pick Deandre Ayton. The 27-year-old is not having the career he envisioned since wanting to get out of The Valley.
He had the opportunity to be the man for the Portland Trail Blazers, but outside of a few stretches of promising play never came close to that ceiling. With the Los Angeles Lakers the role was reduced, but the opportunity for a deep playoff run existed. That didn't quite happen either.
Ayton could be out of the league if Lakers prioritize Marcus Smart
Somebody who is in the know about all things Lakers basketball is Dan Woike of The Athletic, and in a recent mailbag centered on the franchise, he put forward the idea that Los Angeles is only going to keep one of Ayton or Marcus Smart heading into next season. He is leaning towards the latter.
If that does happen, then where will Ayton's next contract come from? To give him some credit, he outperformed expectations for the Lakers for parts of their season. Consistency was once again an issue for the player however.
A minimum deal is all he could expect from another organization, but even that may be hard to come by. The Suns have their own big man in Mark Williams who they are likely to bring back, but could then sign-and-trade to another team.
If that were to happen that would be one less landing spot for Ayton, while the Chicago Bulls and their cap room just willingly took on Nic Claxton as part of the Julius Randle trade. A decision that may just have cost the Suns the chance to steal Josh Giddey.
Perhaps the Milwaukee Bucks could be interested, if for no other reason that they may want to lose games (but not too many games) as part of the new NBA Lottery system. Ayton isn't so bad that having him on your roster means you are actively tanking, otherwise the Lakers wouldn't have gone near him.
But he is the type of inconsistent big who has generally lost his teams more games than he has won them, while still ensuring they remain competitive. That fits the bill in Milwaukee.
The Miami Heat also have a lack of players after all they gave up to get Giannis, although the one area they are well stocked is at the five. Maybe Heat culture is what Ayton needs to get his career back on track?
No matter what way you look at this however, future landing spots for a player the Lakers may well be done with are dwindling by the day.
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