{"id":175773,"date":"2026-02-03T13:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=175773"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:50:16","slug":"lakers-may-have-found-the-near-perfect-ayton-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/03\/lakers-may-have-found-the-near-perfect-ayton-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers May Have Found the (Near) Perfect Ayton Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the <\/span>Cleveland Cavaliers<\/span><\/a> charge toward an active trade deadline, fans and insiders believe the Los Angeles Lakers could jump in to earn the upgrade they desperately need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers May Have Found the (Near) Perfect Ayton Upgrade<\/h2>\n

Cavs Exploring Jarrett Allen Trades<\/h3>\n

Days after acquiring <\/span>Keon Ellis<\/span><\/a> and hours after entering <\/span>\u201cadvanced talks\u201d<\/span><\/a> for <\/span>James Harden<\/span><\/a>, Koby Altman and the Cavs aren\u2019t stopping there. The team is reportedly exploring trades around 2022 All-Star <\/span>Jarrett Allen<\/span><\/a>. Their 6’9″ shot stuffer is\u00a0fresh off a <\/span>career performance<\/span><\/a>: a <\/span>40-point, 17-rebound night<\/span><\/a> against the Portland Trail Blazers. He rounded out the evening with five assists, four blocks and two steals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick <\/span>confirmed those rumors<\/span><\/a> Tuesday, writing:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>While Cleveland has won eight of its last 10 games \u2014 nothing to sneeze at, to be sure \u2014 the fact remains that the Cavs hovered around the .500 mark (22-19) when the halfway point of the season hit. Their second-apron status has been well chronicled, but league sources say they\u2019ve explored ways of trading the contract of big man Jarrett Allen ($90.7 million combined in the next three seasons) as a way of unlocking much bigger possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat situation is worth monitoring, if only because moving Allen would expand their list of dreamy possibilities. Donovan Mitchell is extension eligible this summer, with a player option in the 2027 offseason that surely applies organizational pressure in times like these, so it\u2019s safe to say that the Cavs are looking at any and all options.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 39 starts for Cleveland this season, the 27-year-old center has averaged exactly 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists per game while chipping in a steal and a block defensively. He has also shot 60.5% from the field, 11% from deep (1\/9) and 75.5% from the free-throw line.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jan
Jan 28, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) shoots beside Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) in the first quarter at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allen\u2019s Potential Fit with the Lakers: Pros and Cons<\/h3>\n

A performance like last night\u2019s should be enough for the Lakers to inquire about Allen. He checks the boxes as a physical two-way center who can thrive with elite playmakers. And as he showed last night, he\u2019s an elite defender and rebounder\u00a0in the middle of his prime. With the <\/span>Lakers preparing for life after LeBron<\/span><\/a>, Allen easily fits the bill alongside <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>If there\u2019s a player the Lakers could really use from the Cavaliers, it\u2019s <\/span>Jarrett Allen,” The Athletic\u2019s Law Murray<\/a>\u00a0wrote<\/span>. “<\/span>Deandre Ayton<\/span> is a solid finisher who is capable of great rebounding games, but the Lakers have had a whale of a time trying to defend with Ayton on the floor. Allen\u2019s mobility and selfless rim protection would be a perfect fit. Trading Ayton and <\/span>Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span> would get this done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Deandre Ayton<\/span><\/a> has come under fire for some less than stellar performances this season, with many viewing him as a stopgap rather than a long-term fit. It\u2019s led fans to eye potential upgrades over him, with Allen becoming a clear-cut favorite as the Cavs reshape their roster.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, while Allen seems like a perfect fit on paper, his sudden availability calls the Lakers\u2019 priorities into question. The team wants to <\/span>preserve future cap space<\/span><\/a> heading into the deadline, hoping to avoid taking back large, long-term contracts in trades. This strategy already <\/span>took them out of the De\u2019Andre Hunter sweepstakes<\/span><\/a>. Allen, making $20 million this season, signed a <\/span>three-year, $90 million extension<\/span><\/a> that kicks in this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Lakers are willing to change course and make a run at Allen, it\u2019d be a far better option than standing pat at the deadline and addressing issues in the offseason (again).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Brad Mills-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Cleveland Cavaliers charge toward an active trade deadline, fans and insiders believe the Los Angeles Lakers could jump in to earn the upgrade they desperately need. Lakers May Have Found the (Near) Perfect Ayton Upgrade Cavs Exploring Jarrett Allen Trades Days after acquiring Keon Ellis and hours after entering \u201cadvanced talks\u201d for James […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":175778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,9,26,62,3,4721],"tags":[4556,1419,1043,38,1133],"class_list":["post-175773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-austin-reaves","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175773"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175792,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175773\/revisions\/175792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}