Deandre Ayton has been mentioned in trade rumors for quite some time since he arrived in Portland two seasons ago. A trade was never consummated, but Ayton will no longer be in Portland. The Trail Blazers and Ayton agreed to a buyout of the last year of his contract at $35.5 million, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
After Portland selected Hansen Yang with the 16th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to pair with last year’s seventh overall pick in Donovan Clingan, the writing was on the wall.
Now the million dollar questions are where Ayton will play in the upcoming season? And how much will he ask for?
There are some interesting centers in the free agent pool currently:
Myles Turner is the headliner. He’s 29 years old, can space the floor and protect the rim on defense.
Brook Lopez can also space the floor and protect the rim, but he is more lead-footed than Turner and is 37 years old.
Luke Kornet doesn’t space the floor, but he’s a good rebounder, screener and protects the rim.
Charles Bassey, Bismack Biyombo, Bol Bol, Tony Bradley, Thomas Bryant, Clint Capela, Al Horford, Day’Ron Sharpe and Moritz Wagner are also available options.
Ayton is only 26 years old and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He can get buckets in the paint and grab rebounds, but he’s not physically imposing at either end of the court. He’s more a midrange maven on offense and, while he averaged 1.5 and 1.2 blocks early in his career, Ayton has averaged sub-1.0 blocks in four seasons.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, here are the teams with cap space:
Brooklyn Nets are projected to have $35 million but they extended Nic Claxton last summer and drafted Danny Wolf. In addition, the Nets are in a rebuilding phase, so acquiring Ayton doesn’t fit the timeline.
Detroit Pistons can create cap space, but would have to renounce some free agents. The need for a center isn’t great since Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart are there.
These teams have a $14.1 million non-tax midlevel exception:
Atlanta Hawks made a bevy of moves to bolster the front courth with the acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis and drafting of Asa Newell, so Ayton likely wouldn’t be a priority.
Charlotte Hornets traded Mark Williams and drafted Ryan Kalkbrenner. Ayton could slide right into the top of the center depth chart and be a pick-and-roll partner with LaMelo Ball. If the organization doesn’t put a high priority on defense and, instead, accentuate the strength which is offense, the Hornets look like the ideal landing spot for Ayton.
Chicago has Nikola Vucevic and Zach Collins at center, so Ayton doesn’t seem like a good fit.
Houston has Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams locked up at center. Plus, Ime Udoka is a defensive-minded coach, so the philosophical fit wouldn’t be there.
New Orleans has Yves Missi and Karlo Matkovic while trading up for Derik Queen. The depth chart looks full for Ayton.
Oklahoma City has Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren.
Sacramento has Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas while drafting Maxime Raynaud in the second round of the draft.
San Antonio has Victor Wembanyama at center, but both backups from last season, Bassey and Biyombo, are unrestricted free agents. If Ayton is willing to come off the bench in a reduced role, I see the fit. I doubt Ayton would be down with that, though.
Utah has Walker Kessler and Kyle Filipowski at center. The Jazz also just acquired Jusuf Nurkic. Kessler has been in trade rumors for quite some time. The new regime has voiced that tanking will no longer be on the agenda, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they acquire Ayton with the intention of trading him at a later date.
Washington has Alex Sarr and Kelly Olynyk. Tristan Vukcevic also showed some things when given the chance. Like the Jazz, Washington could acquire Ayton with the intention of flipping him for assets later.
Here are teams that could be options if Ayton plays for less:
The Los Angeles Lakers are the obvious choice since they have been looking for a center. That said, is Ayton the right center for them? He’s not a lob threat and isn’t great on defense.
Milwaukee could opt for Ayton while moving on from Lopez. The defense takes a massive hit while the spacing gets more cluttered, but the Bucks would get younger and have another offensive threat.
There are contenders like the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers that would love to have a talent such as Ayton be a backup center for depth, but those teams wouldn’t be able to offer a ton of money and would Ayton be OK taking on a complementary role?
The two teams that make the most sense to me are the Hornets and Spurs, in that order.
