Lucky guy, right? Just a happy coincidence that center Deandre Ayton became available as the Lakers were finding themselves with a $14 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to spend, eh?

Sure, if you believe everything you read on the internet, where you all told each other Pelinka had committed a fireable offense by Just Standing There and letting 32-year-old wing Dorian Finney-Smith walk away for nothing when he found another team in Houston to give him a four-year, $53 million deal. (Good for Doe, though.)

Seems like maybe the guy wasn’t Just Standing There. Seems he was waiting for his buddy to emerge from the back with his prize, a previously unadvertised and heavily discounted 26-year-old starting center, who happens to share an agent with Doncic.

Losing Finney-Smith but bringing aboard Ayton and 23-year-old wing Jake LaRavia feels a little like the math that Clippers guard Norman Powell did last season after his team let Paul George walk for nothing — but not for nothing.

The way Powell saw it before his team made the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Western Conference and George’s Philadelphia 76ers got shut out in the East, the Clippers were doing “addition by subtraction.”

Except in the Lakers’ case, it isn’t a matter of bigger roles for hungrier players, it’s literally two players for the price of one — real Black Friday stuff!

They’ll have Ayton on a two-year, $16.6 million deal, so $8.2 million this season before next season’s player option. That’s an incredible bargain for the 7-foot, former No. 1 overall pick, who was bought out by Portland. The Trail Blazers now will pay him about $25 million this year to play for the Lakers — who also picked up the sharpshooter LaRavia with the other portion of their mid-level exception.

And although Pelinka drove you up the wall Just Standing There for the first two days of free agency, he’s standing here now still relatively asset-rich.

Whether it’s a first-round draft pick in 2031 or 2032, or pick swaps, or second-year wing Dalton Knecht with all his upside. Whether it’s Rui Hachimura on his $18.3 million deal or guys like Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber and Jordan Goodwin on their expiring contracts.

Whatever the asking price, Pelinka won’t be haggling from a place of desperation, with the whole world — fantasy GMs included — knowing he absolutely had to have a center.

The Lakers needed a center so badly you were ready to shoehorn in should-be backups like Brook Lopez and Clint Capela because, from your spot in line outside the store, that’s who it looked like the Lakers could get.

And now that they’ve gotten Ayton on a great deal, you’d like to let the manager know that you have your reservations.

The NBA has a charming habit of slinging mud at players on their way out. Fair or not, never-named sources will frame former employees as out of shape or vampiristic, seemingly whatever they think will help keep fans on their side after a breakup.

So you read an article about why the Blazers were down to part with Ayton, whose alleged crimes include that he can be “carefree and loud, often blurting out songs or offhand comments in the locker room.” Go ahead, call over the security guard.

But before you do that, consider: The Bahamian has also averaged a double-double every season of his career, with averages of 16.4 points (59% shooting) and 10.5 rebounds. That’s right, the Lakers got a guy who actually can grab a board! Who’s a lob threat and a midrange threat. Who has this next season to prove he’s worth another lucrative contract.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking.

What is Pelinka doing? As in, what is he doing now? The Ayton news is so two news cycles ago and the Lakers have work to do!

They’ve got holes to fill defensively if they’re going to appease LeBron and impress Luka and turn a team featuring those two top-15 players into the contender it could be — should be.

So why is that guy Just Standing There?