Does the Deandre Ayton signing push Lakers to Western Conference CONTENTION ⁉️👀 | NBA Today

Does the Deandre Ayton signing push Lakers to Western Conference CONTENTION ⁉️👀 | NBA Today

All right, Kareem, Shaq, Dwight, AD, all top drafted big men who ended up in purple and gold. And now DeAndre Aton joins that list. Eightton was introduced with the Lakers yesterday. Let’s take a listen. Feel like a video game like somebody set it up. I think somebody set this up. But like honestly, it’s it’s um it’s an opportunity I won’t take for granted. You know, Luca is a once in a generation player and I’m happy to be his teammate. um hearing how much shape he’s been in. He’s super rip and I’m finally glad to be on his side, you know, when he’s while he’s doing all of that. It’s a different type of drive that I’ve been wanting to express for a long time. And um I think this is the perfect timing, you know, here in the purple and gold. And just to it’s a platform that I I cannot run from, you know, I can show what I show what I really am and just be around some greats to really emphasize that for me as well. And you know, um, yeah, it is a lot of fuel in me, you know, to prove the whole world. That suit game was strong yesterday, Andre Aton, wasn’t it? All right. Lucky for us, we also have a former number one overall pick here to take a look at what’s going on in LA with the Lakers, Chennai Ogum. So, Chennet, how do you see Aton kind of rounding out with the Lakers? Let me talk nerdy to you. The Lakers have their long awaited center at the center position. And as we focus on him here, because I want you guys to see this is the impact this man will have. He actually led the NBA as a screener in points per pick and roll. So if he sets a screen, he actually generates the most points. But as we go to the tape, I’ll show you why he’s such a tremendous lob threat. It starts with his angles on screens and it actually starts with his hands as well. Let’s go back to when he was with the Suns. This is with one of the greatest point guards of all time. Sets a solid screen. Now you have two, three people attack attached. Look at his arm. He’s like, “Hey, lead the pass here. Lob threat. You guys remember that Valoop?” But now fast forward to his time with the Trailblazers. I love how he adjusts his positioning on screens that allows guards to snake. Solid screen right here. He’s very patient, methodical with how he cuts to the basket. And then again, look at the arm, the extension. There he goes. He leads his passers. So it’s simple baskets for him. And if you think about the numbers, this is the type of offense that the Lakers want to hold down. Eightton actually triple. If you think Oh, let’s get our graphic up here. I’m not sure if we have the graphic, but if you think about Luca Donic and LeBron James, Luca Donic, here it is. He’s second in the NBA since he entered the league when it comes to points off of lobs, generating those lobs and those assists. And then also LeBron James is fifth in that category. So, if there’s one player that is perfectly tailored to be the guy that they need, especially with these two stars offensively, these guys, future Hall of Famers, it’s DeAndre Aton, but he will have to bring his aame. Aton and his aame. All right, Chennana. Awesome stuff as always. Let’s welcome in ESPN reporter covering the Los Angeles Lakers, our guy Dave McMinnon. So, Dave, we’ve seen DeAndre Aton go from franchise cornerstone as the number one pick to somewhat relative obscurity in Portland. What are you hearing or assessing about his fit with the Lakers? Yeah, DeAndre said it, George, at his introductory press conference. He said, “When you’re not on a winner in this league, you’re forgotten about.” And certainly, this is an opportunity for DeAndre, to reestablish who he was, the promise of being that number one pick who was a key cog on a Phoenix Suns team that was two wins away from the championship. on a Suns team that followed up that season by winning 64 games and getting the number one overall seed in the NBA. Obviously, the Suns gave up on that player for a variety of reasons. And over the last couple years, only 57 wins combined with the Blazers in his time there in Portland. He sees this as a chance to get back on the trajectory of being someone who’s known for the 16 points, almost 60% from the field, 10 rebounds a game. And for the Lakers, they see this as a great opportunity because he fits into their cap space they had available only about eight and a half million dollar contract and they hold on to their expiry contracts. They hold on to their 2031 first round pick. They hold on to Dalton Connect. That means they can continue to get this team better whether that be through the rest of the off seasonason or leading up to the trade deadline in January and February because again this is about trying to get the most out of this group and turn them into contender. Dave, what else stood out to you from that press conference yesterday? Well, it was not just DeAndre Aton coming and joining the Lakers. who was Jake Laavia. And several instances both of those guys mentioned LeBron and Luca. It was almost a given a uh you know just a a certainly a um decided factor that those guys are going to be on the team next year. And I understand that LeBron James’s agent, Rich Paul, gave a statement to Sham Shirania when he opted into his deal for next year, basically saying that he’s going to be monitoring every move that the Lakers make and wants to play for a championship contender for the rest of his days in the NBA. And I understand that Luca Donuch has a contract decision come August 2nd when the Lakers can offer a massive extension and put it on his plate. But these guys when they are surveying the market and they both had other options out there, they’re joining the Lakers under the assumption under the uh the given um decision that both those guys are going to be on the team. And I think we need to start thinking about the 25 26 Lakers in the same manner that we’re going to be looking at a group that has the same core as last year with LeBron James, Luca Donuch, and Austin Reeves with some new faces around them. What needs to happen for LA to kind of take that next step? The first step is to make sure LeBron James is cool. That’s fair. Okay. His social media has been some tweeting and a little angst, I guess. Welcome home hat. Welcome. He’s in Cleveland. Proper attire. Golf. Lot of golf. Lot of golf. Um, let’s just make sure he’s cool. Uh, but I I also think they need some more perimeter defense. They they lost obviously Dorian Finny Smith. That was somebody they went out and traded for last last season. And uh we have Luca Don, Austin Reeves as your starting back court. You need some help on the perimeter defensively. This league is a long athletic league and LeBron was in that defensive role last year. He was like the middle linebacker. I guess he’s almost playing center a lot of the times. I don’t think he’s going to be in that role now that they have DeAndre Aton. But they still need some more athletes on the perimeter. And that sprinkles over to pace. I think this is a league that’s dictated. We saw in NBA Finals that were on both ends offensively and defensively. The pace is what dictated those types of matchups. So, I think if finding the way to compete, especially with their young talent, you know, surrounded by Luca, who knows he likes to walk it up and LeBron who’s more methodical, figuring out that offense. We have one year under the belt of JJ Reic. I think he’s going to, we all know he’s going to dive into this. He’s going to dive into the tape. He’s been there. But like, I do think that this is going to be We already had the big trade. People acclimated. We got enough on tape. Now, let’s see how we can actually compete now that we filled the biggest hole. Yeah. I just texted with two people in the Western Conference. uh one league personnel guy and then and one coach and they’re split. One person said bad move. Oh. Uh because they said like look Aton the the time when they went to the finals which is a long time ago in Phoenix. I was think almost 21. Uh that was the deepest paint uh paint shots we saw Aiden do in his career. And since then now he’s more like a guy that just kind of floats pick and pop things like that. uh he said all the right things yesterday in the press conference, but where where will he be, you know, basically in February? How will LeBron feel about him? Will he be that engaged all the time? Will they light a fire under him? And the thing is, if as this one person said, if he’s going to have those type of deep paint shots, well, then Luca can work with that. Luca will make him look good. As one other person said though, given the options, this was a great pickup for the Lakers because they needed a big. But the whole thing is where will JJ Reick be and how will he feel? Who will he finish with? Is he gonna trust DeAndre Aiden in those times when Aiden tends to float sometimes? Yeah. Well, look, on my radio show here on ESPN LA, uh got a shameless plug there, Sedano and Cap on 710 ESPN, we had Jason Quick on uh of the Athletic who wrote a recent story about some of the issues that went on with DeAndre Aton in Portland. And talent has never been the question with him. It’s desire that’s been the question. I mean, they Anthony Davis, one of the best rebounders in the game, one of the best defensive bigs in the game, and he’s in Dallas now. And like DeAndre, those are big shoes to fill. He’s not going to fill those shoes on those ends of the court, but he’s got to do better at rebounding, rolling hard to the basket, and playing some defense back on that back line.

The NBA Today crew discuss how Deandre Ayton fits with the Los Angeles Lakers and expectations for the team heading into next season.

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