Gustavo Ayon (thumb) will not play on Friday, as expected.

Look for Ayon to return some point next week at the earliest, and he'll be coming off the bench behind Nikola Vucevic at center.

Gustavo Ayon is wearing a splint over his left thumb and has done "little, if any, work with a basketball in recent days."

Ayon's original two-week timetable would put him in line to return on Sunday, but head coach Jacque Vaughn warned that two weeks "was our minimum," so Ayon could be out for a little longer than that. Ayon is keeping up with his conditioning, but he'll have to get in some on court work before returning.

Gustavo Ayon (thumb) did not practice on Monday and is still just under a week into his two-week minimum timetable for return.

Beat writer John Denton identified that teammate DeQuan Jones (abductor) had no timetable yet in the same tweet, so we're assuming by his omission of any other news on Ayon that he's comfortably within his original timetable. Give Ayon a look in the late rounds if you need big man depth, as he looked fine before suffering the injury.

Gustavo Ayon will be out at least two weeks with a sprained thumb.

Ayon got some attention as a sleeper fantasy pick earlier in the preseason, but he's cooled off of late and his injury all but locks Nikola Vucevic in to the starting center's role to begin the season. Owners outside of extremely deep formats can do better than Ayon, especially now that he'll start the year on the shelf.

Gustavo Ayon played 12 scoreless minutes off the bench on Friday, missing one field goal attempt with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Neither Ayon or Nikola Vucevic started at center tonight, as the Magic went with Big Baby instead. Vucevic fared a little bit better, scoring seven points with seven rebounds in 20 minutes and reportedly has the edge on the starting job. Jacque Vaughn is probably just tinkering, but we wouldn't be surprised if Baby spent at least a few minutes at the '5.' How much time he spends there will greatly dictate whether or not Ayon or Vucevic has any real value.

Gustavo Ayon excelled in his start on Tuesday with 19 points, 10 boards, two steals, one block and six turnovers in 38 minutes.

Nikola Vucevic did not play, so it was Ayon's show tonight and he didn't disappoint. Ayon can provide some nice production for field goal percentage, points, boards and blocks, which gives him a little more allure even in the event Vucevic gets the start.

Gustavo Ayon did not play due to coach's decision on Monday.

Nikola Vucevic has edged ahead of Ayon for the starting center job, but we haven't closed the door on Ayon's value just yet. Without a report about an injury, this is noteworthy but not necessarily important.

Gustavo Ayon made his Magic debut in his home country of Mexico and had a nice line of 12 points (on 5-of-8 shooting), six boards and three assists in 26 minutes.

Nikola Vucevic only converted one of his four attempts from the field and totaled two points and nine boards. Ayon looks to have an edge to win the starting job, but we're not ready to call him anything more than a late-round pick at this time.

Gustavo Ayon will play with the Magic this season according to reliable beat writer Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.

Sportando passed along a bunk report from an unknown source and looks like they'll have egg on their face this time. Ayon is the slight favorite to start over Nikola Vucevic at center for the Magic, and with the lack of depth in Orlando he is worth a look late in drafts, regardless.

Sportando passed along a report from an unknown source on Friday stating that Gustavo Ayon is leaving the NBA for Regal Barcelona of the Euroleague.

Sportando added that Regal Barcelona bought his Spanish Basketball League rights from Baloncesto Fuenlabrada to facilitate the deal. While Sportando has passed along credible leads in the past, we have no clue who the source is here. We're taking a wait-and-see until we get the Magic to weigh in on this, but if Ayon does go then Nikola Vucevic becomes the favorite to play big minutes at center in Orlando.

Gustavo Ayon, Nikola Vucevic and Kyle O'Quinn are competing for the starting center position.

With Glen Davis locked into the full-time starter's role at power forward, the three players will duke it out for starting five spot in training camp. Ayon will start the Magic's exhibition game in Mexico City, but that's not an indication that he necessarily has a leg up on the job. We're keeping a careful eye on this positional battle and Ayon should be an intriguing late-round pick if he winds up with the job.

Gustavo Ayon is open to returning to Spain when his contract with the Magic expires next summer.

"It would be an honor if I returned to Spain, to Real Madrid or Barcelona, ​​one of those two teams," said Ayon. "But for now I'm enjoying this stage [in the NBA], I do not know what will happen next year and I want to enjoy the moment." Ayon is slated for a big role on the Dwight-less Magic this season, and fantasy owners shouldn't overlook his solid per-minute stats from last season -- he averaged 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocks in just 20.1 minutes.

Gustavo Ayon could be a bigger part of Orlando's rotation for the upcoming season.

Ayon was a fun story for the 2012 season. He was very efficient by converting 53.6 percent of his field goals and was one of New Orleans' best defenders in the post last year. Despite seeing just 20.1 minutes per night, the Mexico native posted 5.9 points, 4.9 boards, 0.9 blocks and 1.0 steals. It's early, but Nikola Vucevic seems like a better player to target with his upside being higher thanks to his range from deep.

Gustavo Ayon has officially been traded from the Hornets to the Magic.

Ayon played well as a 26-year-old rookie last season, averaging 5.9 points on 53.6 percent shooting, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.9 blocks and only 0.9 turnovers in 20 minutes per game. Fantasy owners should pay very close attention to those per-minute steals and blocks numbers -- Orlando's frontcourt is a giant question mark until Dwight is traded, but given enough minutes Ayon could be a productive fantasy player.

Gustavo Ayon will likely have his contract option for next season picked up, according to his agent.

"The Hornets have until July 25 to pick it up and I've been told by the team's management that the intention is to pick it up," Ayon's agent said. There is apparently a delay due to Tom Benson taking over ownership of the team, but it sounds as if Ayon will remain in New Orleans. Ayon averaged 5.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks on 53.6 percent shooting this season.

Gustavo Ayon (concussion) will not play in Thursday's regular season finale.

Ayon must have picked up the concussion sometime during his impressive 29-minute outing against the Warriors on Tuesday. Jason Smith (ankle) is expected to play in a limited role, meaning Lance Thomas and Carl Landry are in for big minutes.

Gustavo Ayon got a start thanks to an injury to an ankle injury to Jason Smith and had 13 points, seven boards, four assists, a steal and four blocks on 6-of-11 shooting in 29 minutes of Tuesday's win over the Warriors.

We've seen Ayon play like this in the past this season, and he looked good against the hapless Warriors tonight. If Smith is out again on Thursday, look for Ayon to get one last start to end the season. Carl Landry added 14 points and six boards off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting, and both Ayon and Landry should see nice run on Thursday at Houston.

Gustavo Ayon scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting with 10 rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block in 22 minutes off the bench on Thursday.

Ayon played extremely well during his time on the floor, and maybe he's ready to turn the corner on the various ailments that have slowed him down. Jason Smith is really the key here, as he left the game after taking a shot to the face and missed a month and a half earlier in the year due to a concussion. There have been no reports about Smith yet, and New Orleans is notoriously bad with injury reporting, but either way Ayon is going to be worth a look in a depleted frontcourt.

Gustavo Ayon played through an illness on Monday against the Bobcats, scoring two points on 1-of-2 shooting with eight rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes off the bench.

Ayon has been bothered by a number of different nagging injuries, so we doubt the flu presented anything different to him as a challenge. Until he gives us reason to believe he can be productive, he should be left on the wire despite the Hornets' lack of overall depth.

Gustavo Ayon is bothered by a "shoulder issue" and his foot is "bothering him," according to Monty Williams.

This would help to explain Ayon's recent drop in production. Through five games in April, Ayon is averaging just 2.0 points and 3.2 rebounds in just 13 minutes per game. With Jason Smith and Carl Landry both healthy, Ayon could struggle to see consistent playing time going forward.