Deandre Ayton corrals 10 rebounds in WAS debut

Bilal Coulibaly will take the starting spot of AJ Dybantsa who rolled his ankle in the final pre-season game against the Pelicans. Bilal is worth a stream spot in redraft leagues if he’s available.

There have been questions about Anthony Davis joining the lineup and how it will impact Sarr, but he will still be useful in 12 team leagues. There will be games where he’s inefficient, especially for a big, and then there will be other games where he will look good. While a jump might’ve been hindered by AD arriving, and the foot injury over the summer, he’s still a solid big man.

After undergoing right foot surgery in June, Sarr made his first appearance of the preseason on Monday. He looked a bit rusty on offense, but the third-year center still grabbed nine rebounds. Anthony Davis did not play, so Sarr shared the frontcourt with Deandre Ayton. Once the regular season begins, expectations are that AD and Sarr will start.

Sarr underwent on his right foot in June after fracturing it during an offseason workout. Foot injuries for big men aren’t something to toy around with, and they’ll take the necessary precautions, which means he’ll be limited during camp. Sarr will be an important piece of the starting lineup once again this season and will form a formidable duo down low alongside Anthony Davis. However, that can only happen if the pair are healthy.

The second-round picks are in 2031 and 2032. The Lakers recently acquired Walker Kessler to be the team’s starting center, and they’ll offload Ayton just a few days after he picked up his player option for next season. He’ll now likely be the backup center behind Alex Sarr, which eliminates most of the fantasy value that he had this past season. However, he should be one of the better backup bigs in the league and has streaming upside if the Wizards face an injury in the frontcourt to either Sarr or Anthony Davis.

Given Ayton’s inconsistent play in his first season with the Lakers, it’s unsurprising that he would look to lock in $8.1 million for the 2026-27 campaign. In 72 games, the 7-footer averaged 12.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 27.2 minutes. While Ayton started every game he played, there were times when he lost minutes to Jaxson Hayes. Between the inconsistent rebounding and rim protection and his awkward fit with the Lakers’ star ball-handlers in the two-man game, Ayton may not have commanded a similar payday had he gone into free agency. One of the Lakers’ remaining goals this offseason is to upgrade the center position, so Ayton may either be a backup or ultimately be moved elsewhere.

According to Charania, Sarr sustained the injury late last week during an offseason workout, and he’s expected to be fully healthy for the start of training camp. He’ll look to build off of a career-best campaign in which he averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 2.0 blocks across 27.2 minutes.

While he did not offer much production as a scorer, Ayton more than held his own on the glass in Game 6. The Lakers center grabbed at least 10 rebounds in each of the final three games of the series, totaling 33 in Games 5 and 6. While the Lakers will need more offense from Ayton in the second round against Oklahoma City, at a minimum, he’ll need to be dominant on the glass for them to have any chance of pulling off what would be a major upset.

Ejected from Game 4 just over halfway through the third quarter, Ayton was around for the entirety of Game 5. And he lived up to the “DominAyton” nickname on the glass, grabbing ten offensive rebounds and 17 overall. Add in a good night of shooting the basketball, and the 7-footer finished with his third double-double of the series. Ayton and the Lakers will look to end the series on Friday in Houston, as they look to avoid having to play a Game 7 after winning the first three games.

Ayton was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for a forearm that he delivered to the head of Rockets center Alperen Şengün. The Lakers center played 25 minutes, finishing with 19 points (9-of-12 FGs, 1-of-1 FTs), 10 rebounds and one blocked shot. Ayton’s early exit, the first of his NBA career, means more playing time for Jaxson Hayes.