It has been a summer of change throughout the Milwaukee Bucks roster, and perhaps their best move was not to sign Deandre Ayton.
The former No. 1 overall pick had $35.6 million left on his deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and was subsequently bought out, leading to the Los Angeles Lakers signing him to a two-year, $16.6 million deal as they were desperate for frontcourt help.
Bucks made the right choice not signing Ayton
Ayton's career trajectory has been interesting, with the Phoenix Suns drafting him in 2018, where he then helped them reach the NBA Finals in 2021. They lost to the Bucks, of course. He was then once again impacted by the Bucks, with him heading to Portland with Jrue Holiday as part of a three-team trade that landed Damian Lillard in Milwaukee.
He only played in 40 games in the 2024-25 season, where he averaged 14.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and a block per game on shooting splits of .566/.188/.667. Questions were always asked about his consistency and work ethic, with him infamously missing a game due to his house being snowed in. Suns owner Matt Ishbia also said that he felt Jusuf Nurkic was a better fit than Ayton, with the Bosnian center now bouncing around multiple franchises as a veteran big.
Milwaukee replacing Brook Lopez with Myles Turner, via waiving and stretching Lillard, perhaps wasn't what anyone expected. However, Turner is a better fit alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo in the frontcourt. He offers more defensively both in the paint and on the perimeter, while also being a 3-point threat. Turner averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and two blocks on splits of .481/.396/.773.
Ayton does trump Turner in rebounding, but the Bucks already have great glass cleaners in Giannis and Bobby Portis, even Jericho Sims is extremely athletic as a big man and can be effective in both paints. As a post defender, Ayton is very effective, although there have always been questions regarding his effort and intensity, which is a huge red flag for any team.
Turner may not have been everyone's initial choice as the new center, but had the Bucks signed Ayton and found the same issues as other teams, then they would be stuck to that deal. Kyle Kuzma was acquired in a big mid-season trade, and his performances were very underwhelming.
A particularly bad playoff series has perhaps tanked his trade value even more, and if the Bucks try to move off of Kuzma, the return is unlikely to be anything substantial. Signing Ayton may have led to the same scenario.
Playing alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James may see Ayton return to the form he showed in the first few years with the Suns. They will be relying heavily on him at center, and it looks like the Bucks made the right decision. Their biggest move may have been the one they didn't make.