Deandre Ayton is walking into Washington with a very different assignment than the one he’s spent most of his NBA career protecting.
Wizards general manager Will Dawkins made it clear at Thursday’s press conference that Ayton will be the backup center, calling him “a starting-level center and probably the best backup in the league”. That is a major shift for a player who hasn’t come off the bench since the bubble in 2020, has made 363 straight starts, and has been a reserve in only seven of his 470 career NBA games.
For Washington, the role matters as much as the talent. The Wizards traded for Ayton this summer, but they also drafted AJ Dybantsa with the number one overall pick and are trying to move out of the rebuild.
Dawkins’ vision includes Anthony Davis, Trae Young, and Ayton, but the roster math is tight. Davis is a ten-time All-Star and remains a starter when healthy.
Alex Sarr has opened every game since the Wizards drafted him second overall in 2024, and Dawkins expects him to be ready for opening night even though he’ll be limited to start training camp. With Davis and Sarr both below-average shooters and Ayton not taking 3-pointers, Washington can’t realistically run all three big men together.
That puts Ayton in a new spot, whether he’s eager for it or not. He picked up his $8.1 million player option with the Lakers before they sent him to Washington for Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks.
Los Angeles was happy to add draft capital, and Washington wanted center depth, but Ayton didn’t choose this destination on his own. He has been a starter everywhere else, and the Lakers, Trail Blazers, and Suns all kept him in the opening group despite the stretches where his energy and attention to detail came and went.
The resume is still there. Ayton was the number one overall pick in the loaded 2018 class, going ahead of Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
He anchored Phoenix’s defense on the way to the NBA Finals in 2021 and has averaged a double-double for seven straight years. Last season with the Lakers, he posted 13 20-point double-doubles, but he also had 10 games with five points or fewer.
Even so, head coach JJ Redick never pulled him from the starting lineup after the Lakers promised him that role.
Now the challenge is different. Ayton’s production could play up in a reserve role, where his career averages of 15.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 30.3 minutes per game would stand out even more.
His floater and mid-range touch should give second-unit bigs problems, and his rebounding should jump against lesser competition. Washington could also use him as a scoring option behind Davis, Young, and Dybantsa, giving him a chance to be the focal point of the second unit and bring “DominAyton” back.
There’s also a practical side to it. Sarr and Davis can cover for Ayton’s lack of rim protection, and Brian Keefe can pull him quickly if he isn’t giving the Wizards what they need. Washington wants to push into contention after landing Dybantsa, and the franchise sees this as the start of a real move toward the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
But the leash may be short. Ayton is on an $8.1 million expiring contract, and if the fit goes sideways, he could be moved before the deadline.
That leaves him with pressure to show he can thrive as a high-level reserve and earn another deal. Mitchell Robinson just landed a $47.3 million contract from the Boston Celtics after coming off the bench for the NBA champion New York Knicks, a reminder that role players can get paid if they embrace the job.
For Washington, the formula is simple: defend, rebound, score when called upon, and make the most of the minutes he gets. For Ayton, it’s a test of whether he can accept being a reserve and still be a difference-maker.
If he can, Dawkins’ comment may prove accurate. If not, his stay in Washington could be a short one.
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Wizards Rebuild Enters A Season That Finally Demands A Real Identity
The Wizards are still in the middle of a patient rebuild, but the next step is supposed to feel more defined. General manager Will Dawkins has been stressing gradual development as Washington keeps leaning on a young core built around several recent first-round picks, with the emphasis now shifting from simply collecting talent to shaping a more coherent style of play on both ends.
Dawkins has made it clear the organization wants this group to grow into something faster, more connected and harder to play against defensively. For a team trying to climb out of the Easts bottom tier, that means the youth movement remains the long-term priority even as the standards around pace, ball movement and rim protection get sharper by the month. [Read more 🡒]