Unfortunately, Deandre Ayton is indeed 'not no Clint Capela'

In building a case for his own prominence and pre-eminence, Deandre Ayton shows he has no clue what the Lakers need or how he could rescue his career.

Good morning. I, too, am not no Clint Capela. Let's basketball.

ESPN's Dave McMenamin wrote a profile of the mercurial Deandre Ayton. (Ask me to define mercurial and I'll struggle; you know it when you see it, and Deandre Ayton is mercurial.) There is gold in there. We can start with the headline, which is one of the scariest things you could hand to a Lakers fan.

Yikes!

The story is worth reading in full. McMenamin picked up a lot of funny anecdotes showing how unserious Ayton can be (faking a fall in the locker room to hit a cartwheel and somersault) but comes back to how the Lakers are trying to motivate him ...

Members of the training staff wrap Ayton's water bottle in athletic tape and write "DA's Crunk Juice – Drink this to unleash the beast" in black marker on it before games.

... and acknowledging, at least among his advocates on staff and the roster, that big men do rely on playmakers to get them the ball.

After scoring just four points on 2-for-4 shooting on Jan. 2 against the Memphis Grizzlies, Ayton aired a rare grievance. "Bigs can't feed themselves," he said.

Redick – who has remained an advocate behind the scenes, sources close to Ayton told ESPN – took the feedback in stride. In a rematch with Memphis two nights later, Redick called the first play for Ayton and the early score spurred him to 15 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the game.

The core issue is what Ayton sees himself as in the NBA, and what the Lakers need him to be. This is summed up in the episode that McMenamin leads the piece with:

When he was finished speaking to the group, Ayton made his way back toward the showers and said what he really felt -- loud enough for anyone still in the locker room to hear.

"They're trying to make me Clint Capela," Ayton said, referring to the Houston Rockets' now backup center, who a decade ago made his impact as a lob-catching, rim-running big on a team that made it to two conference finals.

"I'm not no Clint Capela!"

No, Deandre Ayton. You are not no Clint Capela. The Lakers would be so lucky to have a Clint Capela.

The insult Ayton means here is that Capela is a role player, not the main character. He was a tool for James Harden's excellence, and by extension the late 2010s Rockets' excellence. (He's also an underrated part of the Hawks' stunning 2021 Eastern Conference Finals run. We focus on the Ben Simmons moment – which was certainly crucial – but Capela was excellent for Atlanta that season and had a good series against Philadelphia.) Ayton has been one two excellent teams, one of which made a deep run. Ayton was a vital member of that group, albeit in a different way than Capela. But that team fell short and decided Ayton wasn't worth the trouble.

Ayton never saw himself as a tool, as a role player. That caused some of the friction in Phoenix that led to his trade. That caused the Blazers, who won 36 games and were aiming to make a run at the postseason, to buy out a 27-year-old Ayton. Think about that: Portland was mediocre and wanted to improve, and part (not all) of that calculus was to pay Deandre Ayton to go away. And they were right about, apparently: the Blazers are on pace to make the play-in and improved by three or four wins.

No one ever paid Clint Capela to go away.

Ayton is more talented individual scorer than Capela. The Lakers do not need individual scorers. They have LeBron James, the all-time leading scorer; Luka Doncic, a top-3 individual creator; and Austin Reaves, one of the most forceful perimeter creators in the league. The Lakers need someone to rebound like his life depends on it, defend the paint like his life depends on it and finish at the rim paired with one of the best lob passers in the league (Luka).

You know who rebounded like hell, defended the paint like hell and finished at the rim when paired with one of the best lob passers in the league? Clint Capela. Capela has the fifth highest offensive rebound percentage in NBA history. Capela has the 13th highest defensive rebound percentage in NBA history. Capela has the 23rd highest block percentage in NBA history. Capela has the seventh highest effective field goal percentage in NBA history (top three: DeAndre Jordan, Rudy Gobert, Jarrett Allen – all guys who know who they are offensively). Capela was everything the Rockets needed him to be, and he knew (and still knows) who he is in the NBA.

If the Lakers had peak Clint Capela right now instead of Deandre Ayton, they'd be in much better shape.

If Deandre Ayton played like Clint Capela right now, not only would the Lakers be better off: Deandre Ayton's career would be in a better place. Again, no one ever paid Clint Capela to go away. Capela's effectiveness has slipped as he hit his 30s; he's playing a narrow role for Houston. He signed a 3-year, $21 million deal with the Rockets over the summer. Ayton, who is in his age-based prime, signed a two-year, $16 million deal with Los Angeles and has a player option this summer. Part of that calculus for Ayton's team was that the Blazers are still paying him. But the outlook for Ayton to make gobs of money this summer or next aren't great. He absolutely has not rehabilitated his reputation with the Lakers, despite being perfectly cromulent for a bizarre team. He certainly has not turned heads in a positive way or come close to setting himself up as essential to a Luka-centered team going forward.

If he played more like Clint Capela – better rebounding, better rim protection, fewer post-ups, more rim dives – he'd be in a much better position to command another big NBA contract and have a wider swath of suitors. This should be an absolutely perfect situation for him to become a Clint Capela. The Luka-Harden parallels are real, and the Lakers desperately need rebounding, defense and finishing. They need a tool for Luka to use, not another chef in the kitchen. By insulting the situational excellence of Clint Capela in Harden-era Houston, Ayton shows he still has no clue what he should be, what he could be and what the Lakers need him to be.

For his part, like the trainers scribbling motivational messages on Ayton's drink bottle, Capela is trying to encourage DA to see the light.

Scores

Hornets 133, Pacers 109 – Kon Knueppel broke Keegan Murray's record for most threes by a rookie. There are 22 games left in the season.