The Lakers dropped their season opener on Tuesday night against Stephen Curry's Warriors. Luka Dončić was spectacular in putting up 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists but didn't get enough help in the second half to avoid the loss. It's hard to make any sweeping conclusions about the contest given the significant absence of LeBron James. However, it did quickly become clear that the Lakers' ballhandlers would need some time to adjust to playing with Deandre Ayton.

Ayton was signed for a pittance over the offseason after getting released by the Trail Blazers to give Los Angeles a big presence in the middle; the roster's lack of size was a glaring issue in their playoff series loss to the Timberwolves. It's been a few years since the 2019 No. 1 pick has meaningfully impacted winning but Dončić and James are such gifted passers it was widely assumed that Ayton would at least be able to run a threatening pick-and-roll from the outset.

Turns out, that's not true at all. Ayton, Dončić, and Austin Reaves were obviously struggling to stay on the same page throughout the evening. The center finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and four turnovers; the Lakers were outscored by four points in his 34 minutes on the floor.

Speaking to reporters after the game Ayton addressed the rough debut by describing himself as a "confusing" player to play with. Fittingly, the explanation he gave was also rather confusing.

"Today I was realizing, I'm probably a confusing big," Ayton said. "Where I can roll or stand in the pocket. It probably gets a little difficult for them sometimes. I'm so used to the league having that low man on me, sometimes I can't even finish a roll and, a tiny bit, linger around the free throw area just to be available for him. There's times I can finish my roll. You got to play some more and play against some more great teams like how we did tonight to really see what's the common coverage for these teams, really trying to put us on their personnel what they got on us."

Ayton's monologue vacillated between somewhat clear and straight-up baffling.

As best we can figure, Ayton is saying he can be a confusing center to play alongside because he does not always roll hard to the hoop. He's capable of hitting midrange jumpers around the free throw line so on some pick-and-rolls he'll linger in the paint instead of going right at the rim in anticipation of a lob or quick pass for a layup. Further complicating the issue is that Ayton is not accustomed to defenses leaving him open to harass the ballhandler, which means there's no "low man" who can stop him from getting to the rim. All that adds up to Ayton not consistently making the same decision and that makes it difficult for his teammates to know where to pass him the ball.

After sifting through all that it can be simply summarized as Ayton's habits are not in tune with what the Lakers expect him to do yet. They need more experience playing alongside one another to learn those habits. Growing pains, in other words, are part of Ayton's onboarding process. Which shouldn't come as a huge surprise but resulted in some ugly miscommunications on opening night.

With a teammate as talented as Dončić, Ayton's job should be simple. And eventually it likely will be. But for now everyone is still getting used to one another.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Deandre Ayton Offered 'Confusing' Explanation for Struggles in Rough Lakers Debut.