Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[The Jom]

Agree, and to add to this, you just cannot have a guy out there who doesn't have to be guarded during that stretch. The other team KNOWS what you're about to run and has predetermined whether they'll double, and from where, meaning who they'll leave open. They determine matchups based on "pre-switching." 

Now, Ayton is juuuuuuuuust dangerous enough so as not to count as "don't have to guard him" but that sort of means he's going to end up in the paint off of the screen like almost every time, because you OBVIOUSLY can't have him out there on the perimeter. I hope we can all agree on that, at least. 

I, personally, do not WANT Ayton to be the most likely finisher of the majority of plays down the stretch. Others might feel differently, but give me a spread floor with screen setters who can relocate to a variety of different places and be a threat from all of them. More unpredictable, and lends itself more to Luka and Kyrie having the ball in their hands deeper into the clock, which is the goal if you ask me. 

Even if you think I'm crazy about the above, it's fairly clear that Ayton will be one of the biggest defensive liabilities out there for either team during a stretch like that. Most teams spread the floor at that point. You'd be begging for Ayton to be abused, just like he usually has been in PHX. 

This is literally why they want to trade him. Because he makes too much money for this to be even a conversation. You could say the same about Jokic, defensively, but nobody cares because he's Jokic on the other end.

There are counter moves though. It’s only this simple when the other team has the personnel to do what you want the Mavs to do. Having an Ayton or even a Capela is a useful tool in the drawer. You don’t play the Knicks the same way you play the Warriors. If Ayton only costs the chump change that the Mavs seem to be offering, I don’t know why you say no to that. Just don’t expect to close games with him against the Warriors.