Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - EMERGENCY PODCAST! Lakers, Center Deandre Ayton Agree to 2-Year, $16.6 Million Deal.

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

He comes with baggage, yes, but new Lakers center Deandre Ayton also comes with production. In a down year last season with the Blazers, Ayton still averaged over 14 points and 10 rebounds a game. He's never averaged single digits on the boards in his career, and is a pretty reliable 14-18 point-a-night scorer. He's a lob threat. He's strong in the pick-and-roll, and he can hit the offensive glass. Paired with three great playmakers in Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves there's a ton of potential for Ayton to get a lot of easy buckets. The questions of professionalism (a lack of it, specifically) and availability are real. They are important. But Ayton represents a massive upgrade at the center position over what the Lakers used following the Anthony Davis deal. With about $5 mil more to spend and some potential trade chips, the Lakers are likely not done reforming the roster. But already, they're better than the group that finished the year.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first yearGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to a special bonus episode of Locked-on Lakers, Brian Kamenetzki, Andy Kamenetzki. The Lakers have their center. They will bring in DeAndre Aiden, fresh off the buyout market, a two-year deal. Plenty to break down. Next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks, everybody for making Lockdown Lakers.

listen to every day, Monday through Friday, matter how, where you get your podcast. This one's always free and never behind paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you're going to hang out with over 35,000 subscribers, Andy, who are pleased the Lakers got their man. Some people don't necessarily like their man, but their man is better than no man, I think. DeAndre Aiton, not a terribly large surprise. He is, was expected, I think, in most circles to end up with the Lakers, and that is exactly what happens after he clears waivers on Wednesday afternoon.

Two-year deal, the second year is a player option worth of a little over $18.5 million. It is an interesting time. You look at the reaction to this signing, Andy, and it is all over the place. And I personally think the Lakers win out here. They do as well as certainly could be expected, particularly as well as could be expected without actually giving up any players in return. But what is your reaction now that DeAndre Aiton is going to be the starting center for the Lakers next year? It's a high upside move that I like. Does it come with some risks? Of course, he's going to be the best in all likelihood center on this roster.

And it is a position of dire need. and if for a variety of reasons that we'll get into a bit on this show, and then obviously the full show coming up later today that we're going to record, we're going to dive even deeper into this. But my guess is DeAndre Aiton is going to be depended on for a lot on this team. And we saw the limitations, particularly in the playoffs last season, what happens when you do not have reliable big man play of any kind? But that being said, there's a reason he's considered.

a high upside flyer. He averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds, three on the offensive glass, which is important, a little under two assists a game. And he has shown at times some ability to play, make, block a game. We'll get into some of his numbers, but let me tell you something.

Insofar as the part of the job description where you are supposed to rise up, grab the lob that Luca or LeBron just through you, and throw the thing down through the, hoop with tremendous force. DeAndre Aiton's really good at that. Like he's really, really good at that. And he fills some needs desperately, desperately missed last season with the Lakers once Anthony Davis was moved for Luca. Again, we will get into all of the risks and the red flags and the reason that DeAndre Aiton was even available in the first place. But in terms of

high upside plays. Realistically speaking, the Lakers had no other avenue even close to this opportunity. It is, I think you're touching on something really important here. The comparison point that Lakers fans need to make here is not between D'Andre Aden and the ideal center that you could get,

some top five starting center or Walker Kessler to come in at age 23 and all that kind of, that's not. the comparison. The comparison is DeAndre Aiton versus what they had last year after the Anthony Davis trade. And Aiton is light years better than Jackson Hayes. There's just no, I get the, you know, the concerns about his attitude. I get the concerns about, you know, being on time for flights and being not able to navigate a frozen driveway in Portland and all of these things that have been part of the D'Andre Aiton experience. To be fair, he grew up in the Bahamas.

There was not a lot of experience growing. Like Brian and I grew up in St. Louis. We were equipped when it came to, hey, we need you in a pinch to shovel this driveway quickly so we can get you to school. Like DeAndre Atenre Aten. Get a snowflower guy. You know, there are ways to handle this problem. Yeah, he went from the Bahamas to Phoenix.

He didn't know how to do this. That's true. He is, even with all of those things, even if he fixes none of his shortcomings from an attitude standpoint, he is still a significant upgrade over Jackson Hayes. I mean, he just is. And, you know, Jackson Hayes is not even close to a starting caliber center. He's really, I think in most, an adequate backup. And on most good teams would be your third center.

Yeah. So taking Aiton and plugging him into that, because it's not just the lob finishing that you mentioned, Andy. Aiton is very good at a lot of things that the Lakers need a center to be good at. He is a good offensive rebounder. He is a good screen and role player. He is very specifically good at skill sets the Lakers were missing. Two big shortcomings of the abilities, reliability, availability.

If he didn't have those problems, the Lakers wouldn't have access to him because he wouldn't have been bought out by Portland. But as a talent upgrade, even before you can see, or how much better and easier his life is going to be with Luca, LeBron, and Reeves feeding him the ball. It is a significant upgrade, even if he fixes nothing about what has been sort of the marks against him as a player, particularly in his time in Portland. He's still. And look, obviously, you're cutting out a little bit, but obviously, obviously there's no way to know right now if D'Andre Aiton is going to adjust the

attitudinal issues that were an issue in Phoenix. They were reportedly an issue in Portland, just a general idea that D'And D'Andi Aton and motor and desire, professionalism, just wanting to get the most out of himself as a player. There's no way. way to know right now whether or not the Lakers are going to be able to get the best out of him. I mean, it helps to have somebody like LeBron around who demands a certain amount of accountability from his teammates, and rightly so. It helps to have somebody like Luca who, for all the questions about his own conditioning and his own dedication to that part of being a professional athlete, and it's kind of funny because they're both repped by Bill Duffy. So it feels like Bill Duffy

has a type among clients, like in terms of those specific things. But Lucas teammates have, at least from everything I've heard and observed, found the time with him very productive and they found him fairly inspirational on the court in terms of he makes my life easy. He makes me look good. I want to be a part of that. But also, assuming D'Andre Aten cares about having a career moving forward and also having a career that pays him even remotely what he's been open about wanting to make.

This is like the last stop saloon for D'Andre Aitin. If this does not work out, he'll make like $16 million over the next two seasons, and then he might make $16 million over the next five. And I'm not exaggerating. Like it really could turn into that. And yeah, he's already made about $200 million. So maybe that doesn't motivate him. But assuming he does not want to become a number one. I would be satisfied.

I might retire on that. Bro, I'd have already quit five years ago. But assuming he does not want to be a 27-year-old or so former number one overall pick already on league minimums, this is his last shot because everybody's going to be watching on the Lakers. So this is it. You know, it's just, yeah, it's just one of these things where the first, this is an enormous gift, it is an enormous gift to the Lakers offseason.

The fact that they were able to go out and add this person, you know, into the free agent pool and do that. it was an unexpected thing because you look at a guy like Brooke Lopez, terrible fit, good players still, but terrible fit, I think, for what the Lakers were trying to do. And they could have made it work and, you know, Brolo would have done good stuff, but it's not a good fit. You look around and, you know, Luke Cornett was $11 million. DeAndre Ait is better than Luke Cornet. You know, like, there's just, this is as good of an ending to finding a starting center. And again, when you aren't giving up any players.

And that's the big thing. We're talking about a guy who's never average fewer than 10 rebounds a game. It is pretty bankable for 14 to 18 points a night. He'll block you a shot. He'll do all that stuff. Like, if he plays 65 games for the Lakers this year, it's going to make a significant difference. He's not as good as Anthony Davis,

but they didn't have access to Anthony Davis. Virtually, very few players are as good as Anthony Davis. And so we told people for a Wednesday show, it's like as the temperature was starting to boil around what the Lakers were doing or really more specifically not doing, you have to let things finish. There was still a very good chance that Aiton will end up a Laker. That has happened.

They are still reportedly trying to, to go after Al Horford as the backup. That would be a great conclusion. De Anthony Melton, they can split up. They still have that biannual exception. They can split up into two players. They can spend it on one player. They can actually trade into the biannual exception as if it was a trade exception.

I learned today, that's something that you can do. So the Lakers are going to add one or two more players. They will probably swing a trade. And so I'll say it again, if you come out of this. free agent period, given the money they had to spend, with Aiton, La Ravia and Horford, or Aiton, LaRavia, and Melton. Maybe one more player, if Melton doesn't cost you the whole thing. That's a good outcome for the amount of money that they had to spend.

Absolutely. So we will, of course, keep an eye on the rest of the day. The Lakers, this could shake a few things loose for what the Lakers do over the course of the rest of Wednesday, certainly into Thursday, the rest of the week going into the 4th of July. holiday, but we will be back for more analysis later on. Before we leave, Andy, we have to tell people about this. Well, that Monarch Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Monarch Money. Have you ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Not DeAndre Ait, and that's for sure. Between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, it is easy to lose track, except again for

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We'll see everyone with a full show for Thursday.