Lakers' $16M former first-rounder drops hint on future plans with LA ahead of Rockets series originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to rely heavily on Deandre Ayton with the absence of Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić in the first round of the playoffs. They will need the best version of Ayton to show up, rather than the concerns that surfaced about him before the season.

“The word around the league is not good about Deandre Ayton... right now he's been labeled as a diva, as a cancer in the locker room... he has to change a lot about himself or he will find his career being shortened,” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkinssaid.

Ayton is on a $16 million deal and has the opportunity to return next season. The playoffs will be a crucial time for him to prove he belongs beyond this stretch.

“This playoff run calls for Ayton to produce at a higher quantity until Doncic and Austin Reaves are back. The Lakers will not even get far enough to see those returns without their big man in the middle performing like the double-double guy he was with the Suns. If Ayton plays his part in extending the playoff run for the Lakers, Pelinka would have reason to consider granting him another season in Los Angeles,” Lake Show Life’s Svyatoslav Rovenchuk wrote.

The biggest question surrounding Ayton is whether he will be back next season. His recent comments about the coaching staff suggest he would like to return.

“I really like JJ and his team. Our coaching staff, I look up to them. They're their brother's keeper. I explained to them, they're the first set of coaches, really, that I’ve seen that they're really tight,”