Lakers' Deandre Ayton era off to harsh start as fans grow frustrated just one game into the season

The Los Angeles Lakers are still trying to figure things out early in the season after a loss to the Golden State Warriors. The team signed Deandre Ayton over the summer after he was waived by the Portland Trail Blazers. It was a questionable move, but Ayton was the only center the Lakers could realistically afford. During the preseason, however, Ayton impressed.

“There is still a level of caution revolving around Deandre Ayton that is hard to shake. However, in the very early parts of the Ayton experience for the Los Angeles Lakers, it is likewise difficult to shake the present feeling that Rob Pelinka and the front office made the biggest steal of the summer,” Lake Show Life’s Syvatoslav Rovenchuk wrote. “The more Ayton continues to look like someone who can reliably fix the concerns of last season, the more his $8.1 million contract will stick out for its value. Not only will that be a bargain, it could be highway robbery by year's end.”

However, his debut with the team didn’t go as planned, as Shaquille O’Neal sent him a strong message.

“Listen Deandre, dominAyton, that performance yesterday, I need you to step it up my boy. You got to do three things. You got to rebound and you got to block shots and you got to dominate,” O’Neal said about Ayton. “The pressure’s not on you, you got two great players that get double a lot. When they make that little bounce pass, catch it and throw it down. You had a small guy guarding you in the post, you turn around and shoot a fadeaway. That’s not going to get it done. We need you brother, we need you to step it up.”

Ayton wasn’t the dominant force he’s capable of being, and it didn’t take long for fans in Los Angeles to notice.

“And those fans got a bit of a rude awakening on Tuesday. They didn't take it very well. Lakers fans everywhere seem to have turned on Ayton in record time, instantly growing frustrated with the same tendencies that Blazers fans were happy to rid themselves of when the team waived Ayton in the offseason,” Rip City Project’s Quinn Everts wrote.

This was the risk the Lakers knew they were taking when they signed Ayton. There were a few bright moments against the Warriors, but the expectation is for him to play complete, consistent games.

He’ll continue to evolve alongside Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić. However, if no improvement is made, this might end up being Ayton’s last real chance in the NBA.