LOS ANGELES — The Lakers are trading their starting center from a year ago, making a move to increase their draft-pick capital and bring in a former Luka Doncic teammate.
Deandre Ayton has been traded to the the Washington Wizards, a league source familiar with the trade who was unauthorized to speak publicly told the Southern California News Group. The Lakers are receiving guard Jaden Hardy and two future second-round draft picks in return, ESPN first reported.
Ayton, who had played in a career-high 72 games during the 2025-26 season, averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on 67.1% shooting in his one year with the Lakers. The 7-footer opted into his $8.1 million player option earlier this week, but after the Lakers arranged a sign-and-trade deal (that has yet to be finalized until the free-agent moratorium ends Monday) to acquire Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, Ayton’s role on the team turned into a reserve.
Ayton’s departure leaves not one starter from the Lakers’ first-round playoff opener against the Houston Rockets left on their 2026-27 roster.
Hardy, a 6-3 guard heading into his fifth year in the NBA, has two years and $12 million left on his contract. The Lakers will hold a team option for Hardy for the 2027-28 season. The 23-year-old began his career as a second-round draft pick of the Dallas Mavericks, where he played the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career, more than two of which came alongside Doncic (Quentin Grimes, who reached a four-year, $60 million agreement with the Lakers on Wednesday, also played in Dallas).
Primarily used off the bench in the NBA in his career, Hardy recorded career-best numbers during the 2025-26 season playing for the Mavericks and Wizards, averaging 9.2 points on 44.3% shooting from the field and a 42.0% clip from beyond the arc. Hardy should slot in as another depth guard off the bench for the Lakers to provide a scoring punch similarly to Collin Sexton, with whom they reached an agreement Wednesday.
The Lakers will now likely need to add a backup center to their roster to play behind Kessler. Sandro Mamukelashvili, who agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal on Wednesday, is more of a stretch big man option that could fill into the hole currently vacated by free-agent forward Rui Hachimura.
In free agency, Andre Drummond, Nick Richards, and Kevon Looney are still unsigned, proven centers that could appear as options for the Lakers as they fill out their final two roster spots. Entering Friday, the Lakers only had room to add to players on minimum contracts, but sending Ayton to Washington should open up about $2 million in extra room for additional incomings.
Since the Lakers are set to send their 2031 and 2033 first-round picks to Utah when they complete the Kessler trade, the second-rounders from the Wizards will provide the Lakers flexibility in potential future trades as they continue to fill out the roster for the season ahead. Available for future trades, the Lakers now have a 2032 first-round swap, along with three second-round picks at their disposal going forward.