Trail Blazers Buy Out Deandre Ayton On the Eve of Free Agency: What it Means
Portland parted ways with Ayton after two seasons, clearing the runway for their young centers.
The Trail Blazers' week of surprises just took another turn.
On the heels of trading Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday and unexpectedly drafting Yang Hansen with the No. 16 overall pick, the Blazers have agreed to a contract buyout with Deandre Ayton, the team announced on Sunday evening.
Ayton was set to earn $35.5 million in the final year of his contract. As part of the buyout, he gave back a portion of that salary, the exact number of which was unable to be immediately confirmed. The rest of the money will remain on the Blazers' cap sheet for the rest of the season.
With the Blazers having now drafted centers in back-to-back drafts—Yang on Wednesday and Donovan Clingan last year—and with Robert Williams III and Duop Reath still on the roster, the writing has been on the wall that Ayton, who came over from Phoenix in 2023 as part of the three-team trade that sent Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, was not a part of the team's long-term plans.
Still, buying Ayton out on the eve of free agency is an unexpected move and has implications for the Blazers' payroll and roster going forward.
