A day after writing about the need for a big man to be acquired in free agency for my favorite basketball team, it has happened. The Los Angeles Lakers have officially agreed to terms with DeAndre Ayton, who previously played with the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers in his career that began after being drafted with the number one overall pick out of the University of Arizona in 2018. Ayton brings some playoff experience and much-needed big size to a Lakers team that deprived themselves of a legit big man in the middle of last season when they traded Anthony Davis to Dallas for Luka Doncic. Without an elite center, the Lakers were left rudderless against the size of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who eliminated them in five games from the playoffs in a first-round series(the only game they won in the series was a game that I attended and wrote a story about a couple months ago). Now after reaching a buyout agreement with the Blazers, Ayton is the newest big man to make Hollywood his home. Signing a two-year deal worth $34 million(money that he will receive partially from the Lakers and partially from Portland), Ayton is set to be the Lakers starting center for the next couple of seasons and hopefully longer.

When healthy, Ayton is one of the best big men in the NBA. He definitely proved that in his time in Phoenix, where alongside Devin Booker and other good players an NBA Finals run occurred in 2021 for the Suns. In spite of losing that series to the Milwaukee Bucks, Ayton still had himself one of the best(if not the best) seasons of his career. Over his first seven seasons of his professional career, Ayton has averaged roughly 16 and a half points, 10.5 rebounds, and one block per game. Ayton was with the Suns for his first five seasons until signing with the Blazers in the 2023 offseason. Playing alongside young center Donovan Clingan in this past season, Ayton played limited time in the Rip City, only playing in 95 of a possible 162 games for a rebuilding Portland team. Injuries to his lower extremities might raise some concerns, as he last played in a game on Feb. 12 of this year. A left calf strain kept Ayton out for the rest of the season as the Blazers missed the playoffs and were unable to qualify for the play-in tournament. But Ayton’s addition is big news for the Lakers, who have been gauging the free agent waters for an available center. Key center candidates such as Myles Turner and Brook Lopez were available earlier, but signed with other teams. Ayton will hopefully be worth the money and not miss too much time for a retooling Lakers team that needs depth at multiple positions.

With Ayton, the Lakers finally have that elite big man presence that can help aid LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the floor. Being a perfect guy to lob the ball to for alley-oops, Ayton is also an elite rebounder on the offensive and defensive ends. Alongside forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt, Ayton proves to be an incredible addition to the Lakers frontcourt. Learning their lesson that size matters in their defeat to the Wolves, the Lakers are now bigger than they were just a couple of months ago. After a lackluster 2025 draft, the Lakers are looking to add new faces to their roster via the free agent market. The only other notable signing that they have made so far is landing forward Jake LaRavia, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Purple & Gold worth $12 million. LaRavia played for the Sacramento Kings for a couple of seasons before entering free agency. LaRavia’s arrival comes in the wake of Dorian Finney-Smith deciding to sign with the Houston Rockets in free agency and LaRavia joins a forward room that now includes recently drafted Adou Thiero, who the Lakers acquired in a second round draft deal from the Brooklyn Nets. Dalton Knecht has been part of trade rumors that the Lakers are engaged in to acquire another star shooter to potentially offset Austin Reaves, who might seek to go elsewhere in free agency a year from now.

So, the Lakers have their big man now in DeAndre Ayton, who will be a big part of the game plans put together by J.J Redick’s coaching staff. Health will be key for Ayton, who will hopefully not be a five-years-younger Anthony Davis. Ayton was born in this month(on the 23rd) in 1998, so he will be 27 as the Lakers go into training camp and their preseason schedule occurs. Being from the Bahamas, Ayton joins the Lakers after they had a chance in 2016 to draft another star Bahamian player in Buddy Hield, who was instead selected by the New Orleans Pelicans and has spent time with a few other teams in his career. Ayton only played one year in college and had controversy surround him at Arizona when allegations of illicit financial payments were made against head coach Sean Miller and others who convinced Ayton to commit to the U of A. No punishment came Ayton’s way, but those who brought him to Tucson were punished harshly by the NCAA for a scandal that occurred right before the invent of name, image and likeness took over college sports and morphed it into the insane transfer-portal money-boosting brand that it is now. Ayton now looks to win a ring with the Lakers and bring an 18th championship banner to the rafters at Crypto.com Arena. This is definitely a good acquisition made by Rob Pelinka, who is facing a lot of pressure to manage the roster well enough as time is running out for LeBron James and a franchise-face transition to Luka Doncic could be taking place. Ayton’s signing was first reported by ESPN analyst Shams Charania, who is always on top of everything in the wild and whacky world of the NBA.