{"id":3597,"date":"2026-07-03T18:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3597"},"modified":"2026-07-03T18:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:10:26","slug":"lakers-trade-deandre-ayton-to-wizards-for-jaden-hardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3597","title":{"rendered":"Lakers trade Deandre Ayton to Wizards for Jaden Hardy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Deandre Ayton\u2019s tenure with the Lakers has come to an end.<\/p>\n

The Lakers traded the 7-foot center to the Wizards on Friday for Jaden Hardy and a pair of Washington\u2019s second round picks (2031 and 2032).<\/p>\n

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The trade is a continuation of the Lakers\u2019 roster reconsutction around superstar guard Luka Doncic, who recruited Ayton to Los Angeles last summer.<\/p>\n

Ayton joins LeBron James (next team to be determined), Marcus Smart (Rockets), Luke Kennard (Suns) and Jaxson Hayes (Jazz) as players from the 2025-26 squad who\u2019ll be on another team next season.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura also remains an unrestricted free agent, with multiple times, including the Timberwolves, expressing interest in signing the 6-foot-8 forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With building a more complementary roster to Doncic as the top priority of the offseason, the Lakers have re-signed Austin Reaves (four years, $185 million), agreed to a sign and trade with the Jazz for Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million) and agreed to deals with Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million) and Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every deal the Lakers have agreed to have a player option at the end of the contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ayton exercised his $8.1 million player option for 2026\u201327 earlier in the week as part of the two-year, $16.2 million contract he signed with the Lakers last July to forego unrestricted free agency.<\/p>\n

His decision was\u00a0one of the biggest X-factors of the Lakers\u2019 offseason\u00a0considering the team\u2019s desire to find a new starting center and his impact on their cap space.<\/p>\n

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Ayton, the 2018 No. 1 draft pick who\u2019ll turn 28 in July, averaged 12.5 points and 8 rebounds in a career-high 72 regular games.<\/p>\n

He was\u00a0instrumental to the Lakers\u2019 first round playoff victory against the Rockets, averaging 11.8 points (60.4% shooting) and 10.8 rebounds in the six-game series.<\/p>\n

But Ayton was also a polarizing player because of his inconsistent motor and his play style not fitting the archetype the Lakers need.\u00a0Luka Doncic has long craved a rim-running, rim-protecting center who he can dominate with in the pick-and-roll \u2014 two things Ayton wasn\u2019t and never even attempted to become. <\/p>\n

Doncic must be happy with this move as it handles two issues for the Lakers. <\/p>\n

One: It gets rid of Ayton, someone who clashed with his teammates over his overall inconsistency. <\/p>\n

Two: It reunites Doncic with Hardy, a former teammate of his in Dallas who emerged as a three-point threat with the Mavericks before breaking out last season with the Wizards. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Hardy was traded to the Wizards last season and found himself in an expanded role. Over 23 games in Washington, Hardy averaged a career-high 12.6 points on 42% shooting from three (6.0 attempts per game). <\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear who sort of value Hardy brings to this current Lakers roster as their appears to be a logjam at guard, but the two second round picks could come in handy for a team desperate to add picks to a bare chest. <\/p>\n

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On Friday morning, the Los Angeles Lakers traded center Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks in 2031 and 2032.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nLakers trade Deandre Ayton to Wizards for Jaden Hardy - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lakers trade Deandre Ayton to Wizards for Jaden Hardy - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Friday morning, the Los Angeles Lakers traded center Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round picks in 2031 and 2032.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3597\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-03T18:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Lakers trade Deandre Ayton to Wizards for Jaden Hardy\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-03T18:10:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597\"},\"wordCount\":533,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/47ddc81964e9020e1247baec6731b91d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3597\",\"name\":\"Lakers trade Deandre Ayton to Wizards for Jaden Hardy - 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