The Phoenix Suns made a massive move by acquiring Bradley Beal in a trade but find themselves in a situation where they are paying four players over $160 million in a league where the salary cap is expected to be around $140 million.
Due to the new CBA making top-heavy rosters impossible to build around, the Suns have been rumored to trade away Deandre Ayton this summer. Despite the team’s need for depth, Suns’ insider John Gambadoro believes the team won’t trade Ayton for pennies and could end up keeping him.
“They’re leaning towards keeping Deandre Ayton. If you know you have veteran minimum guys that play wing and want to come here, then yes. I just don’t know if you can get the value for him that we want and I don’t think trading him into space is an option because teams like Houston and San Antonio don’t want him. They wanna play their rookies and they want to be bad.”
Ayton averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the regular season before declining under the playoff spotlight for a second consecutive season, averaging 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds.
Issues with the coaching staff definitely played a part in Ayton’s poor performances, but does that mean the Suns will eat his massive contract just to hope Frank Vogel can develop him into an All-Star? We’ll have to wait and see.
Where Will Ayton Start The 2023-24 Season?
The Suns will need rotational help, but that doesn’t mean they need to acquire it right now. Ayton could go into training camp wearing a Suns jersey, as the team continues exploring trade options during the season. They can find out if their big four and whatever minimums they sign can play together, maybe even have Ayton bump his value up.
For every selling team, there’s a buying team in the NBA. If Ayton starts out the season hot, his trade value will be higher, and the Suns could actually get difference-making players in return for him. Trading Ayton for Davis Bertans and Tim Hardaway Jr. right now makes no sense, especially when we don’t know who could be available by the time December rolls around.
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