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Ranking Lakers, Warriors Among Deandre Ayton Landing Spots After Contract Buyout
There was no calm before the storm that's already the 2025 NBA offseason. The winds started whipping up during the Finals, and it feels like we get more thunderous news on the player movement front every day.
The latest surprise came on Sunday night, free agency eve, when ESPN's Shams Charania reported the Portland Trail Blazers are working on a buyout with Deandre Ayton.
The No. 1 overall pick in 2018, Ayton is one of 19 players in league history to average a double-double in each of his first seven seasons.
But his impact has rarely matched the raw production. For his career, his teams' point differential has been slightly better when he's off the floor.
But Ayton is on the verge of his prime (he turns 27 in July), a legitimate seven-footer and still more mobile than many of the league's plodding giants.
In the right situation, he can be a winning player (as he was for the 2020-21 Phoenix Suns team that made the NBA Finals).
And below, you'll find some of the potential landing spots that make the most sense for both the team and Ayton.
5. Memphis Grizzlies
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After undergoing offseason surgery on his left ankle, there's a chance Zach Edey could miss the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
And if there's one thing we've learned about Jaren Jackson Jr. over the course of his career, it's that he's much more dynamic when playing alongside a traditional 5.
Ayton can fill the void potentially created by Edey's surgery while also extending the 2024 first-rounder's NBA learning curve a bit.
4. Boston Celtics
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Given the cost-cutting moves the Boston Celtics made to unload Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis, this one feels less likely than those above it. They would have to shed more salary to be able to sign Ayton and stay out of the luxury tax.
However, the KP move has created a pretty glaring hole in the depth chart that Ayton might be able to fill in what appears to be a gap year.
And if he could help Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons and Payton Pritchard be more competitive than expected, he might be able to earn himself a much bigger payday in 2026 (whether with Boston or someone else).
3. Charlotte Hornets
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Following the 2025 draft, it suddenly feels like the Charlotte Hornets have one of the most exciting young cores in the NBA.
There's tons of shooting, versatility and playmaking from the wings with Brandon Miller and 2025 draftees Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley. And though he's already been in the NBA for five years, LaMelo Ball doesn't even turn 24 till August.
The size of each of the above should make it possible for all four to play together, but after trading Mark Williams, there's a pretty obvious need at the 5.
Yes, Ryan Kalkbrenner was another one of Charlotte's picks last week, but he's a rookie and doesn't project to be a plus player on offense right away.
Ayton would slot right into the starting center spot, where he could be a dynamic pick-and-roll target for Ball, while flanked by the three-point shooting of Miller, Knueppel and McNeeley.
2. Golden State Warriors
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One marquee franchise that seems like a near-no-brainer of an Ayton suitor is the Golden State Warriors.
Draymond Green is still one of the best defenders in the league, but at 35 years old, he's not quite as well-equipped to play small-ball 5 as he once was.
And most of the rest of Golden State's center minutes went to Kevon Looney, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post.
All three have their strengths, but they're not the raw talent Ayton is. And though he doesn't really fit the mold of a Warriors-style player under Steve Kerr, their up-and-down 2024-25 campaign suggests they may need a bet on raw talent.
No, Ayton isn't really a read-and-react, off-ball moving, connection-passing big man, but he does warrant defensive attention inside. That could give Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler precious extra space around the perimeter.
And this isn't exactly an "old dogs can't learn new tricks" situation, either. Ayton is still on the right side of 30. With that Finals Suns team, he showed an ability to be a little more of a gap-filler than a traditional 1990s, ball-dominant center.
Golden State might be able to coax a little Warriors ball out of him still.
1. Los Angeles Lakers
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Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers, regardless of where they are as a franchise or what resources they have to make a deal, always seem to find their way into exercises like this. It's been that way for about as long as the internet has been around.
But you (non-Lakers fans) can relax. This one is not contrived.
From the moment the 2024-25 season ended in the first round, it was obvious L.A.'s biggest need was at the 5. It didn't have a starting-caliber center, and a rim-runner has long been an important ingredient for Luka Dončić's success as a pick-and-roll virtuoso.
Ayton even made some sense as a trade target. The Lakers had plenty of movable salary to combine and get to the $35.6 million he was set to make. Now, of course, they don't have to.
L.A. has the potential to be operating under the luxury-tax threshold this offseason, which would allow it to offer Ayton the non-taxpayer's mid-level exception of $14.1 million. Without much cap space available elsewhere around the league, that's a number that could be enticing for the Arizona product, especially when he considers the basketball fit.
He has never played with a pick-and-roll creator quite like Luka (and no, I didn't forget about Chris Paul). His combination of size, ability to score at the paint and ability to manipulate defensive coverages draws attention in a way few others in history really have. And that will mean loads of wide-open scoring opportunities at the rim for Ayton.
