UglyBugBall wrote:NyKnicks1714 wrote:UglyBugBall wrote:Not even kidding, this might go down as one of the best signings the Lakers have made in the last 10–15 years.
Ayton catches way too much hate, but people forget he’s a legit 7 footer who’s averaged a double-double basically every season since he came into the league. He’s not just tall he’s skilled. Soft touch around the rim, can hit that short midrange, strong rebounder, and when he’s locked in defensively, he can anchor a team.
People clown him for the Suns stuff, but he helped take that team to the Finals. That playoff run wasn’t a fluke, he was efficient as hell and made impact plays on both ends. Now he’s only 26 and landing on a Lakers team with actual structure, vets, and a chance to win again? This is the best possible spot for him.
He basically signed for the mid-level exception. That’s wild. You’re getting a potential all star caliber big for backup money. In today’s market, that’s insane.
Honestly, if he plays up to his potential, we’re talking best big on the Lakers since Shaq. No disrespect to Pau, Bynum, Dwight (the first time), or AD but Ayton’s ceiling as a true center, on both ends, is up there. If he stays healthy and puts together a few big years in LA, he’s absolutely in the Hall of Fame conversation down the road.
Perfect fit, great timing, and low risk/high reward. If it hits, we’ll be looking back at this as one of the smartest signings in modern Lakers history.
I'm really not trying to be mean, but all your posts are very bad.
Two seasons ago, I said the Mavs were going to the Finals after the Gafford trade, and everyone told me I was crazy. I put money on it at terrible odds, and I posted about it way before it happened. Guess who cashed. Ayton’s next. Y’all laugh now, but wait. Statue outside Crypto.com Arena in a few years.
I'm a suns fan who actually likes Ayton and I understand and witnessed how he became a potential franchise two way center to being hated by the media and fans.
His biggest issues are that he was unprofessional and let his feelings get in the way of his job, secondly is that he was immature and just lacked fire consistently.
I also watched 2 years worth of Blazer games because of Ayton, Scoot and Deni. And Ayton was surrounded by chuckers and even worse ball hogs than when he was a Sun. Yet, Blazers looked their best and actually looked like they were heading towards the playoffs or play ins.
The one common criticism of Ayton from Suns and Blazers fans who hated him, is that he could be a very dominant player if he played with intensity. But that's like saying if Ayton was a completely different personality then he would be the player they envision him to be. Ayton is never going to be KG or Giannis like personality wise.
The one proof that makes Ayton an asset is that, when he is happy with his role and he is not ignored offensively, he puts in the effort defensively.
Ayton was a top 5 defensive center during his 3rd year when Suns was making their finals run. The stats showed Ayton contested the most shots out of all centers and the FG percentages were significantly below their normal averages when Ayton contested them.
So many Suns fans in the game threads would post and complain Ayton was being ignored offensively. And then the same Suns fans complain that Ayton is a mental midget playing unhappy and sulking. When they literally complained about the same things. Hence this is the Ayton being unprofessional issue falls under. He sulks and he stops trying hard when he is not happy.
So, the moral is, if Ayton is given offensive role, expect him to be a very good defender. If you just use him as a screener and an offensive rebounder offensively, then he will get demotivated.
He's a big child in a way. And that's his overall big issue.
But, him accepting MLE is a sign he is going to prove he deserves a 30M a year contract so I expect him to be a very good big man this upcoming season. So I agree with you.
Especially with Luka who is NOT afraid to give his big man lobs and passes... Ayton has a real good opportunity to prove the haters wrong.
