After Anthony Davis spent much of his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers expressing a desire for them to acquire a center so he could play his natural power forward position, he seemed to agree with a fan who criticized Rob Pelinka's aggressive approach now that he and LeBron James are gone.

The 7-foot Ayton became expendabe after the Lakers acquired 24-year-old center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz.

With the confirmed exit of LeBron James, the Lakers were finally able to actively make offseason moves to rebuild around Luka Doncic with a significant amount of cap space.

By completing the Kessler sign-and-trade, the Lakers exhausted much of their remaining trade flexibility.