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Lakers' Deandre Ayton future just got murky with blockbuster trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Deandre Ayton was solid in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, though, it looks like he's being replaced.
The Lakers traded for Walker Kessler on Wednesday and signed him to a four-year, $130 million contract.
Ayton, by comparison, recently accepted his player option to make $8.1 million for the 2026-27 season.
Will he even be with the Lakers then, though? It's hard to say.
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What's next for Deandre Ayton?
Because Ayton already opted-in to his player option, he'd have to be traded for the Lakers to move him.
That seems like it's a possibility, because the other options are trickier.
Ayton probably doesn't want to be a backup center at this stage of his career.
Neither he nor Kessler shoot well enough from the outside to play both at one time.
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It looks like bad timing for Ayton, really. If he had known of this deal a week ago, he could've opted-out.
Now, his future is in the hands of the Lakers' front office.
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