Prior to the 2025-2026 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers beefed up their frontcourt. The Purple and Gold signed DeAndre Ayton following his disappointing stint with the Blazers. He had once been a force with the Suns, and the Lakers were in need of rim protection after their first-round playoff exit the season before. Yet Ayton’s run in Los Angeles so far has been inconsistent, to put it mildly.
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Ayton has certainly added size, but he has looked ineffective at times in the areas the Lakers need most from him: rebounding, shot blocking, and easy buckets. It did not help that Ayton went viral for yelling, “they trying to make me Clint Capela,” only to follow it up with a rough two-point, four-rebound performance against the Suns.
The narrative is starting to form. The Lakers have dropped two tight games to teams they should have beaten, and while Ayton’s struggles are not the core reason, they are certainly a reason. It has become noticeable to some of the game’s sharpest analysts, including Shaquille O’Neal, who criticized Ayton’s lack of effort on the latest edition of Inside the NBA.
“If you play hard, you can get things done. He’s not Clint Capela because Clint Capela plays hard every game. Clint Capella is a role player. DeAndre Ayton is a role player. He’s not going to be on the same team with LeBron and Luka and think you gonna get shots,” said O’Neal.
That’s probably the funniest thing about this. Did Ayton suddenly think he was going to be looked at as a guy who is going to drop Jokic-type numbers for LA?
They needed him for size, for perimeter defense, and for muscling out other bigs in the paint. The Diesel later pointed out how Ayton can still get his points, but he HAS to get them by grinding out the rebound game and getting drop offs.
“However, all these plays right here, they’re for you. So if you just do your job, pick, rebound, and run the court, you’ll get easy buckets. I wish my career was this easy,” said Shaq. “My problem with him is he don’t play hard all the time.”
“He don’t play consistent all the time. 6-7 drop off, that’s 12 points. You run the court a couple of times when your guys shooting 3s, you run past them, that’s another 6 points. There go 18 points right there. He’s the key for them to get to that next level,” added the Hall of Famer.
“He don’t play hard all the time. He’s the key for them to get to that next level.”@SHAQ weighs in on Deandre Ayton’s role with the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/vSu7o2Dh8s
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 1, 2026
And as odd as that may sound, Shaq is correct. The Lakers were killed by the Timberwolves in last year’s playoffs because Rudy Gobert was vacuuming up every rebound. They could not match up with Julius Randle, and anytime Ant-Man took the ball to the hole, he went largely unchallenged.
It is not all on Ayton. Luka, while improved, still is not lighting up the defensive side of his game. LeBron cannot do it all himself, especially at 41. The Lakers are fine for now and currently sit in the No. 6 spot. But if they skid at the wrong time, they could quickly find themselves in a dangerous position.
Either they burn energy in the Play-In tournament, or they slide into a low seed and draw the Thunder or Spurs in the first round. Neither is an ideal option if they want to make a legitimate push this postseason. Luka can still shine, as can LeBron and Austin Reaves. But Ayton needs to make an adjustment if he is going to become a real threat for this franchise.
