Despite the immense starpower, the Los Angeles Lakers have been injury-riddled to begin the season, shining a brighter light on the rotational and ‘support‘ players three games into the year. While Austin Reaves has continued to make his case as a potential All-Star this season, the same can’t be said for Deandre Ayton, who was brought in as a key piece alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
Despite the high hopes for Ayton after his arrival over the summer, things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. On the same night Reaves recorded a career-high 51 points, Ayton also had a strong, 22-point, 15-rebound outing, but questions remain on his future with the team.
With the Lakers set for a long-term future with Doncic, it is currently unknown if Ayton will be a part of that plan. Multiple top-tier big men will hit free agency next summer, and Los Angeles was recently predicted to be eyeing one of them, rather than keeping Ayton around.
Speaking on a Bleacher Report livestream, NBA insider Jake Fischer said he believes the Lakers are looking ahead at a new franchise center rather than focusing on the one they have now.
“From Walker Kessler to Jalen Duren to every other center that’s going to hit the open market next year, the fact that the Lakers are set to have cap space, agents and rival teams are looking at the Lakers as not having found their center of the future,” Fischer said.
Ayton’s latest performance might quiet some of the recent doubts. However, that game came when both Doncic and James were out, meaning the big man won’t be getting anything close to that usage rate when the Lakers are fully healthy.
Ayton Isn’t Enough For The Lakers
Before Sunday, Ayton had combined for 25 points,14 rebounds, and two blocks in the team’s first two contests of 2025-26. While those numbers aren’t poor on the surface, he still hasn’t helped fix Los Angeles’ biggest issues from last season, specifically on defense.
Ayton has never been known to be a top rim-protector through his first seven years in the league, and that is becoming a greater problem for the Lakers. While players like Kessler and Duren are known for their versatile defensive prowess, Ayton remains a pick-and-pop target and lob threat, but doesn’t offer the same pressure close to the rim on defense.
“I don’t know how much of a legitimate, upper echelon, starting caliber production Deandre Ayton still has in his capacity,” Fischer said. “Deandre Ayton is not, by any stretch, the pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic over the next decade.”
Through three games, Ayton is playing the most minutes of his career. While some of that comes from the high expectations set on him during the offseason, Los Angeles is also without another healthy center, and head coach JJ Redick is comfortable giving big minutes.
The other two big men on the roster, Maxi Kleber and Jaxson Hayes, are both dealing with injuries and have played a combined 14 total minutes so far this year. Even if they, along with Ayton, are healthy, Fischer believes the Lakers’ center position will be open for next season.
“That situation is only going to be continued to be looked at around the league as something for this offseason that needs to be addressed,” he added. “Players who are big men, agents of big men, are going to be hoping that they can potentially be the benefactor of that undetermined situation.”
Injury Concerns Across The Roster
Regardless of how the Lakers feel about Ayton in his current role, they will be relying on him during this upcoming stretch of games. As of Monday, Los Angeles has six players listed on its injury report: James, Doncic, Kleber, Hayes, Adou Thiero, and Gabe Vincent are all currently listed.
Vincent and Hayes are listed as day-to-day, but their status isn’t a good sign for a team that was already seen as top-heavy and without a deep rotational cast. An official timeline for James’ return has yet to be announced, while Doncic expects to return after at least one week out with finger and leg injuries.
But with the health concerns come games like Sunday night’s, in which the Lakers had strong showings from the backups and ‘non-superstars.‘ Along with Reaves’ 51 points and Ayton’s double-double, Rui Hachimura had 22 points, while Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia also finished in double-digit scoring in the win over the Sacramento Kings.
“I do think for this group it’s important to know that you can win a basketball game without those two guys,” Redick said, referring to James and Doncic.
In his starring role, Reaves said he wasn’t focused on scoring, but rather on what he could do to get the win for his injury-riddled team.
“Especially on a night where you don’t have Luka, you don’t have Bron, you don’t have Jaxson [Hayes], you got to go out there and be big for the team,” Reaves said postgame. “I wasn’t in my head thinking, ‘You got to go score 50.‘ It was, ‘Do whatever you can do to help the team win.‘”
As the health concerns linger, Ayton, like Reaves, will have an even brighter spotlight on his play over the next few weeks.
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