{"id":3540,"date":"2025-07-11T17:41:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T21:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/deandre-ayton-hits-free-agency-trail-blazers-contract-buyout-shakes-nba\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T17:41:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T21:41:43","slug":"deandre-ayton-hits-free-agency-trail-blazers-contract-buyout-shakes-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red94.net\/news\/deandre-ayton-hits-free-agency-trail-blazers-contract-buyout-shakes-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Deandre Ayton Hits Free Agency: Trail Blazers Contract Buyout Shakes NBA!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deandre Ayton has reached an agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers on a contract buyout, paving the way for his free agency, as reported by Shams Charania of ESPN.<\/p>\n

While the decision was somewhat anticipated, it will officially allow Ayton to engage with any NBA team upon completion.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as a potential landing spot for Ayton, especially after their recent trade of Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic earlier in February. This move has left the Lakers in dire need of a skilled center.<\/p>\n

Ayton was traded to the Trail Blazers in 2023 as part of a major three-team deal that relocated Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks. Prior to this, Ayton had spent his entire five-season NBA career with the Phoenix Suns.<\/p>\n

During his two-year stint with the Trail Blazers, Ayton recorded his career-low average of 14.4 points per game last season. He also averaged 10.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists over the 40 games he started.<\/p>\n

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Explore More NBA Content on Sports Illustrated<\/h3>\n
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feed<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":3541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"schema_org_data":"","_extracted_celebrities":"","_extracted_movies":"","_extracted_places":"","_extracted_videos":"","_last_enrichment_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"\nDeandre Ayton Hits Free Agency: Trail Blazers Contract Buyout Shakes NBA!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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