Zach Lowe throws major shade at Deandre Ayton: 'Just a lump of clay'

[ASFN Admin]

Deandre Ayton has represented a substantial upgrade at the center position for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Following last February's Luka Doncic trade that sent out Anthony Davis, they had just Jaxson Hayes, who is merely a backup center who can contribute 15-18 productive minutes a game, to play at the 5.

Ayton has been very solid, especially on the offensive end, and he has given Los Angeles a legitimate rebounder who fights for boards. But he continues to have critics who feel he has fallen well short of the potential people saw in him when he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Podcaster Zach Lowe didn't hold back in his harsh assessment of Ayton's development during Monday's episode of "The Zach Lowe Show." To him, Ayton isn't even getting the job done enough this season, let alone tapping into his true potential.

"I want to say something about Ayton, 'cause I told you before the season this would work," Lowe said. "And I said it's gonna work. And I said, 'I don't mean "Dominayton," I don't mean All-Star game, I mean 16 (points) and eight (rebounds), solid defense, finish at the rim. He's averaging 14 and eight and shooting 68%, and I'm here to tell you that it sounds like he's hitting the benchmarks I assigned to 'it works status,' it ain't working. Defensively, he hasn't been good enough. Offensively, there are too many nights where he's an 8.5 rebound afterthought.

"... How is it possible that a 19-year-old jack of all trades, master of none is now a 27-year-old jack of all trades, master of none? He hasn't gotten better at a single part of his offensive game.

"... It's so disappointing that this guy, who looked like this lump of clay that a team could mold any way they wanted to, is just a lump of clay at the end offensively."

Lowe is absolutely right in his assessment of Ayton's lack of development, especially offensively. While the big man has the ability to score in the low post and hit mid-range jumpers, he hasn't improved his overall offensive ability or impact since coming into the league.

However, on this Lakers team, Ayton is the fourth offensive option, so scoring in the mid-teens is perfectly fine for him. What they need from him even more than complementary offense is rebounding, which he usually supplies them with, and above-average rim protection and overall defense, which seem to come and go for him.

Given L.A.'s continued problems on the defensive end, a jump in Ayton's impact on the defensive end would be very welcome right now.

Including Monday's 124-112 loss to the Sacramento Kings, he's averaging 13.9 points on 69.7% shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 0.8 steals and one block in 29.3 minutes a game this season.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Zach Lowe throws major shade at Deandre Ayton: 'Just a lump of clay'

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