Jason McIntyre believes Deandre Ayton is in the ‘class’ of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Jason McIntyre believes Deandre Ayton is in the ‘class’ of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Everyone on the planet knew that the Los Angeles Lakers were not only in desperate need of a center, but would do everything in their power to acquire one.

Thankfully for them, days after adding to their logjam of bigs by drafting Hansen Yang, the Portland Trail Blazers bought out Deandre Ayton, who was on the books for $35.6 million in 2025-26.

He eventually signed with the Lakers to a two-year, $16 million deal, using most of the Lakers’ $14.1 non-taxpayer mid-level exception. At that price, that’s a reasonable prove-it deal for the 7-foot big, who will be primary outlet for Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

Ayton’s last few seasons haven’t been smooth sailing–it’s been anything but. He’s coming off one of the worst years of his careers, but that’s not stopping Fox Sports’ Jason McIntyre from making an insane statement about his pedigree relative to MVP-winners Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“He would come out of games (in Portland) and slam chairs down; he’d be late to rehab. This is how much Deandre Ayton hated it in Portland: He forfeited $10 million to get out of town,” McIntyre said. “Let’s just say that Deandre Ayton through his first seven seasons is sort of a top-8 center. … Nikola Jokic is an MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo is an MVP, [Anthony Davis] is All-NBA, Joel Embiid has an MVP. These are all great players. Deandre Ayton is in that class with them, he just obviously in Portland, so nobody paid attention.”

Is Deandre Ayton on the same level as Jokic and Giannis? @jasonrmcintyre pic.twitter.com/VOKpvc472I

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 10, 2025

No, Jason McIntyre, Deandre Ayton is definitely not in the class of Nikola Jokic/Giannis Antetokounmpo/Joel Embiid/Anthony Davis

What are we talking about here lol @BackAftaThis pic.twitter.com/zVcS6iObYS

— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) July 10, 2025

No, he’s not in the same class … he’s not even close. Let’s not do this.

Even if he was remotely close, why did the Trail Blazers buy him out then? Why did the Trail Blazers draft two centers in the top-16 in each of the last two years?

Let’s look at their averages each of the last three years:

• Nikola Jokic: 26.8 PTS, 12.3 REB, 9.6 AST
• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 30.6 PTS, 11.7 REB, 6.2 AST
• Anthony Davis: 25.1 PTS, 12.3 REB, 3.3 AST
• Joel Embiid: 32.2 PTS, 10.1 REB, 4.7 AST
• Deandre Ayton: 16.7 PTS, 10.4 REB, 1.7 AST

It’s not even close — don’t make me bring up win shares, box plus-minus, EPM, VORP or PER. It’s a complete landslide between Ayton and the field. He was rarely the most impactful player on his own team — Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant, to name a few — let alone the entire NBA. Let’s not be intellectually dishonest here. Saying they’re in the same class is beyond insane.

It’s okay to admit that Ayton hasn’t quite lived up to expectations through seven seasons. That doesn’t mean he’s unplayable or unrosterable, but already one organization was willing to pay him to go away — and that’s never been close to the case for any of these players above. Now let’s see if he’ll find new motivation with Los Angeles.

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