Will Deandre Ayton Actually Play Hard for LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers?

The Los Angeles Lakers desperately needed a center this offseason. And after Brook Lopez and Myles Turner went elsewhere, signing the recently bought-out Deandre Ayton felt like the only way to salvage an otherwise quiet offseason.

The good news for LeBron James, Luka Dončić and the Lakers is that, on Wednesday, they did exactly that (or at least the two sides committed to signing a deal after the leaguewide moratorium ends on Sunday).

The potential bad news is that if Ayton performs the way he has for much of his career, L.A. may be in the market for a 5 again in 12 months. Even if he's better, they may need a new center next summer.

His deal, according to various sources, is for two years, with the second one being a player option. That could motivate him to play hard, rehab his reputation a bit and re-enter free agency in 2026.

But it certainly doesn't guarantee it.

Lack of effort has plagued much of the 26-year-old's career on both ends of the floor.

As a rim protector or potential defensive anchor, he often roams, seemingly aimlessly, in and out of the action like he has no stake in its outcome.

On offense, he often prefers to settle for a short mid-range jumper over getting all the way to the hoop or drawing fouls.

Over a quarter of his shots in 2024-25 came in the range of 3-10 feet from the rim. Over a fifth of them came from the range of 10-16 feet. He was 312th in the league in free-throw-attempt rate.

If there's a word to describe his general style of play, at least in a lot of his games, it may be "float."

According to a recent report in The Athletic, some of the potential off-court issues that come with Ayton may be more concerning than anything he does (or doesn't do) on the floor.

"... in the end, [the Portland Trail Blazers] couldn’t live with his bad ways," Jason Quick wrote of Ayton. "The tardiness to team flights and practices, according to a team source. The skipping of rehabilitation appointments. Fans saw him slam chairs when he was taken out of games. And a team source said there were tantrums in the locker room when he was sidelined for poor effort."

If that and Ayton's detachment from games persists into his first season with L.A., an already volatile Lakers situation could become combustible.

At the start of free agency, shortly after LeBron opted into the final year of his contract, his agent, Rich Paul, released a statement that read like a soft launch for a trade request.

"He knows the Lakers are building for the future," Paul said. "He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career."

It remains to be seen what the Ayton signing might do for LeBron's perspective on this organization. Lack of professionalism certainly won't help.

This is far from the first time LeBron has had a perceived "attitude problem" on his team. Kyrie Irving famously apologized to him for "for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips." The Anthony Davis situation with the New Orleans Pelicans got pretty toxic toward the end, peaking with his not-so-subtle "That's all folks!" t-shirt. Obviously, the Dallas Mavericks just spent several weeks trying to paint Luka as some kind of malcontent in an effort to justify their unjustifiable trade. And J.R. Smith, at least to some fans, was as much a meme as he was an NBA player before he won a title with LeBron in 2016.

Generally speaking, LeBron's teammates, even the potentially difficult ones, play with a bit more focus when they're with him. There seems to be some kind of residual pressure that comes with joining "The King."

And Ayton could be feeling that soon (if he isn't already).

Assuming LeBron isn't traded (or otherwise moved), Ayton is now an integral part of his decades-long quest to catch Michael Jordan. He's the starting 5 on LeBron's fifth potential title team. He's the interior presence who's supposed to take defensive attention away from LeBron and Luka. He's the backline defender who may have to clean up a multitude of defensive mistakes made by Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves.

The old Ayton, the one we've seen for much of his seven NBA seasons, can't do all that. Or perhaps more to the point, that version of Ayton would choose not to fulfill all of those hefty responsibilities.

But there's a reason Ayton was the first overall pick in the same draft Luka was in. He's a bona fide 7-footer who's quicker laterally and more fleet of foot than most bona fide seven-footers. He may take too many jumpers, but he is a capable shooter. He's explosive enough to be a dynamic rim-runner alongside Dončić, one of the best and most prolific pick-and-roll creators in league history.

But he has to commit to playing with more effort and consistent focus. He had it for much of 2020-21, when he was with Chris Paul and made it all the way to the 2021 Finals. That postsason, Ayton averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks, while shooting 65.8 percent from the field. He was top-15 among playoff players in raw total plus-minus.

That version of Ayton can make the Luka-and-LeBron-led Lakers real contenders.

But he has to choose to be that version of himself.