LOS ANGELES — Deandre Ayton sat at his corner locker with a dark towel over his head, mostly hidden until he thought about one play Friday night that involved him setting a screen for Luka Dončić and missing a dunk.
As he realized the moment he was being asked about, his eyes opened wide and he removed the towel.
“I told Luka, I said, ‘Yo bro, you have power.’ Like I’ve seen true power today,” Ayton told The Athletic. “Like I seen four dudes on him. Bro, I set the screen and it was like they had to bring four.
“What the f—?”
And then Ayton missed a dunk.
Still, he can be forgiven for the exaggeration (Dončić was double-teamed). And for the cursing. Ayton was excited.
Because this play, maybe more than any other in the Lakers’ 128-110 win against Minnesota, fueled hope inside the locker room that this year’s team is more talented and has a higher ceiling than last year’s.
On a night where Dončić scored 49, the most exciting moment was a slick pick-and-roll.
In the third quarter, Ayton set a high screen for Dončić, who caught a double team from Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels. Dončić whipped the ball from the right wing to the left to Austin Reaves. Ayton’s man, Rudy Gobert, sprinted out to Reaves.
And then Ayton ran toward the basket.
Reaves hit him with a pass, and a lane opened in front of him. Julius Randle ran from the corner to the rim to challenge, and Ayton tried to dunk with his left hand. The ball rimmed down and out (he might’ve been fouled). Rui Hachimura grabbed the rebound, scored and was fouled.
But after the play, Reaves and Dončić went right to Ayton, pounding him on the chest.
“We loved it,” Dončić told The Athletic, saying it was the best executed pick-and-roll the team has run with Ayton so far this season.
“We want him to do that,” Dončić said.
“One thousand percent,” Reaves added. “I don’t care if he missed.”
The Lakers, like Phoenix and Portland before them, want to see Ayton put his immense physical talents to simple use like this, attacking the basket with forceful intention. And while there have been some glimpses, there hasn’t been much proof of concept for Ayton’s chemistry with the Lakers’ best ballhandlers.
Both Dončić and Reaves have said that there have been issues with getting the ball to Ayton in the spots he wants and when he wants it in the pick-and-roll game. Ayton himself has admitted to not being the easiest player to read in those situations, but those screens will be a staple of the team’s offense all season long, and Ayton’s ability to get on the same page with the Lakers’ guards will be crucial to their success.
But in the third quarter Friday, it all came together — even if it didn’t lead to points. On the bench, injured players Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber stood up to celebrate when Ayton jumped at the rim. Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt both howled. LeBron James even popped out of his chair.
“Yeah, I ain’t gonna lie, I did not expect LeBron and everybody to be that hyped, man. I know I missed it, but that’s what they like. They want me to do that s—,” Ayton said. “And I told ’em I could do it and that’s why I be saying I’m sometimes a confusing big — ’cause you don’t know what’s gonna come out. I mean it for the opponents though; you don’t know what you’re gonna get. You can get a basic big roll. You get a fundamental big that’s in the pocket. You can get (an) … athletic big that’s going to the rim trying to dunk some s—. You can get a big that can play dunker all day and just rebound.”
The Lakers aren’t looking for all of that necessarily, though. They want Ayton to do the easy stuff as well and as often as he can. When he did on Friday, it changed the game’s energy.
The Lakers were leading 76-70 when Ayton attempted the dunk on Randle. They would go on to lead by as many as 25 and win by 18 — a complete reversal of their second-half collapses against Minnesota a year ago. After the missed dunk, Ayton made his next four shots, including two dunks. He also drew a flagrant 1 foul on Naz Reid from another aggressive rim attack.
“If he does that, regardless of the result … I told him in the timeout after that (foul), I was like, ‘Yo, I don’t give a f— if you miss five more in a row if you go try to dunk that like that. … If you go into the rim like that, it makes them have to foul you,” Reaves told The Athletic. “Like that, you’re gonna shoot free throws. You’ll shoot 10 free throws a game if you’re aggressive to the basket.
“We know you can shoot big range jumpers, but once you put that pressure on the rim, that’s gonna change the dynamic of the game.”
The single play probably won’t be a cure-all for the developing dynamic. But it’s a positive piece of footage everyone can use to spark some optimism that Ayton’s talent can mesh with Dončić and Reaves in what’ll be the Lakers’ most important play.
“He’s gonna feel more and more comfortable,” Dončić said. “It’s been two games, and we’re gonna be fine with him.”
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