Excluding teams currently embroiled in the latest NBA tanking discourse, the Los Angeles Lakers are among the league’s teams in disarray.
While the Lakers sit in the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference (two games ahead of the Pacific Division rival Phoenix Suns), they’ve dropped two games in a row entering a Feb. 26 matchup against Phoenix and are a mediocre 5-5 over their past 10 games. Questions abound about the team’s defensive acuity, LeBron James’ age, and, perhaps most fervently, Deandre Ayton’s game-to-game impact.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin broke that latter point down in a recent piece headlined, “Why the Lakers’ success depends on Deandre Ayton — and vice versa.”
Frankly, the Lakers aren’t deep enough as a team to win games with consistency if Ayton isn’t engaged and performing. It’s something the Suns and, more recently, the Portland Trail Blazers — who waived Ayton last summer — already learned.
Unfortunately for Ayton, the expectations come with the territory of being a former No. 1 overall draft pick. It’s abundantly clear now from DA’s years in the NBA that he’s never going to be a go-to No. 1 option or star on a successful team. McMenamin made that point as well.
Citing a “gut-wrenching” Feb. 24 loss against the Orlando Magic that came down to the final possessions, McMenamin put Ayton’s role into the broader context of where he was drafted.
“Being a screen setter in clutch time is not what is supposed to be asked of a player who was the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft — two spots ahead of his now teammate Doncic, three ahead of Jaren Jackson Jr., four ahead of Trae Young, 10 ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and 32 before Jalen Brunson. Ayton, however, has never developed the reputation as a go-to star.”
It certainly doesn’t help that a number of the league’s current stars were drafted after Ayton went No. 1 overall to the Suns. His career is always going to be framed from that lens. Nonetheless, it’s up to Ayton to define what kind of contributor and teammate he can be for the Lakers. Earlier this season, JJ Redick described his big man as “frustrated” and that “he doesn’t feel like he’s getting the ball.”
Now, the ongoing battle to find ways to motivate Ayton has reportedly embraced “Space Jam” Looney Tunes levels.
The Lakers training staff wraps Deandre Ayton’s water bottle in tape and writes "DA's Crunk Juice — Drink this to unleash the beast" on it to keep him motivated, per @mcten
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) February 26, 2026
(h/t @TheNBABase) pic.twitter.com/ZvjUs4Rx5x
Somehow that’s not satire.
On a more serious note from McMenamin’s reporting, Ayton’s 21-point, 13-rebound effort in the loss against the Magic was Ayton’s first 20-10 game in nearly a month. The inconsistency remains a point of contention for both parties, with Ayton seemingly lamenting a specific player analogy.
"They're trying to make me Clint Capela," Ayton said after the loss, according to McMenamin. “I’m not no Clint Capela.”
Capela, now a veteran backup big for the Houston Rockets, is a former league rebounding champ who’s received Defensive Player of the Year votes throughout his career. Ayton, meanwhile, is averaging a career-low 8.5 rebounds per game for the Lakers this season and his only league award to this point was inclusion on the All-Rookie team.
Capela has amassed 71.7 career win shares in 12 seasons, while Ayton sits at 41.6 win shares through eight seasons. So, yeah, Ayton is no Clint Capela.
Ayton wants to be a go-to scoring option, but the Lakers want him to be a rim-running big who takes rebounding personally and contributes to the team via other means. Expanding on the rebounding point, the offensive glass is an area where Ayton could kill two birds with one stone. If he snatched more offensive rebounds, he’d get more scoring opportunities by default — satisfying both the team and himself. But Ayton’s offensive rebounding numbers leave something to be desired.
The 7-foot Ayton has collected 123 offensive rebounds in 49 games this season, which is fewer than he had last season for Portland across 40 games played. A total of 21 other players have more offensive rebounds than Ayton does, including Steven Adams, who hasn't played since Jan. 18 due to injury. Jordan Goodwin, the Suns’ 6-foot-3 backup guard, has 103 offensive rebounds in more than 100 fewer minutes than Ayton by comparison.
As McMenamin writes, “The task for the Lakers is getting Ayton to care as much for the grind and the role as he does for putting points on the board.” But here’s the reality: Ayton is in year eight in the NBA. He’s played for three teams. He was traded by a team who made the NBA Finals with him as their starting center and was waived by the team that traded for him before the Lakers picked him up.
Ayton may not get many more chances to prove he can be a team player and winner at the highest level of competition. Motivating him to play hard remains an ongoing struggle, and that’s what continues to define Ayton as he faces even more scrutiny in the LA media market.