Insider: Lakers' Center Spot 'To Be Addressed'—Deandre Ayton Is NOT The Solution

The LA Lakers went out and addressed their void at starting starter this past offseason by signing Deandre Ayton. But as for a center of the future? Despite a better performance in the Lakers' second game of the season, Ayton isn't exactly making anyone forget about Anthony Davis in La-La Land.

Insider Jake Fischer tells us on his NBA Insider Notebook on Bleacher Report that, contrary to what anyone might have thought when the Lakers acquired the former No. 1 overall pick, Ayton is NOT the solution at center in LA going forward.

Deandre Ayton is not, by any stretch, the big man pick-and-roll partner for Luka Doncic for the next decade. And if he continues to perform as just an average, replacement level starting center, that situation is going to continue to be looked at around the league as something to be addressed (next) off-season. There are big men, and agents of big men, who are gonna be hoping that they could potentially be the benefactor of that undetermined situation.

The Lakers will have cap space next summer, and big-time restricted free agent-to-be centers like Walker Kessler and Jaren Duren (and their agents) will be licking their chops at the money LA could attempt to throw at them to join Luka in Purple & Gold.

Duren will be looking for a contract worth $30 million annually next summer, according to reports, while Kessler also did not sign a rookie extension, and the Jazz are reportedly asking for two first-round picks and a young player in any trade return for elite rim-protector.

As for Ayton, he has a player option for $8 million next year on his two-year deal that he signed with the Lakers this summer. But that won't stop the team from pouncing on a young stud for the 5-spot like one of the aforementioned, when the opportunity presents itself on July 1.

Ayton has not lived up to his No. 1 overall selection pedigree since being taken at that spot by the Phoenix Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft. He has averaged a double-double in his eight years in the league, at 16 points and 10 rebounds, but he has never seemed happy with his lot, with either Phoenix or the Portland Trail Blazers, and the feeling has always been mutual.