The Lakers are trading their starting center from a year ago, making a move to increase their draft-pick capital and bring in a former Luka Doncic teammate.
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Deandre Ayton has been traded to the the Washington Wizards, a league source familiar with the trade who was unauthorized to speak publicly told the Southern California News Group. The Lakers are receiving guard Jaden Hardy and two future second-round draft picks in return, ESPN first reported.
Ayton, who had played in a career-high 72 games during the 2025-26 season, averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on 67.1% shooting in his one year with the Lakers. The 7-footer opted into his $8.1 million player option earlier this week, but after the Lakers arranged a sign-and-trade deal (that has yet to be finalized until the free-agent moratorium ends Monday) to acquire Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, Ayton’s role on the team turned into a reserve.
Hardy, a 6-3 guard heading into his fifth year in the NBA, has two years and $12 million left on his contract. The Lakers will hold a team option for Hardy for the 2027-28 season. The 23-year-old began his career as a second-round draft pick of the Dallas Mavericks, where he played the first three-and-a-half seasons of his career, more than two of which came alongside Doncic.
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Primarily used off the bench in the NBA in his career, Hardy recorded career-best numbers during the 2025-26 season playing for the Mavericks and Wizards, averaging 9.2 points on 44.3% shooting from the field and a 42.0% clip from beyond the arc. Hardy should slot in as another depth guard off the bench for the Lakers to provide a scoring punch similarly to Collin Sexton, with whom they reached an agreement Wednesday.
Since the Lakers are set to send their 2031 and 2033 first-round picks to Utah when they complete the Kessler trade, the second-rounders from the Wizards will provide the Lakers flexibility in potential future trades as they continue to fill out the roster for the season ahead.
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More to come on this story.