Deandre Ayton’s situation has been a curious case for a large part of this year. The Phoenix Suns star has been expected to leave for a long time, with the Suns not looking to offer him the max extension, but much hasn’t moved forward in terms of potential deals so far.
That has changed on Monday, though, with news coming through that Ayton could be offered the max by the Indiana Pacers or the San Antonio Spurs. And there have been further developments in the situation as well, with Brian Windhorst reporting that the Pacers could sign him or acquire him in a sign-and-trade as early as Monday.
“We believe that the Indiana Pacers are very close to giving Deandre Ayton an offer sheet or executing a sign-and-trade…We could see something with the Pacers and Ayton as early as today.” (via @WindhorstESPN) pic.twitter.com/6iKsfox82T
— The Trade Deadline (@_TradeDeadline) July 11, 2022
“We could finally have some action starting today with Deandre Ayton. We believe the Indiana Pacers are very close to giving Deandre Ayton an offer sheet or executing a sign-and-trade. The Pacers had to do some business over the weekend and complete the Malcolm Brogdon trade. That is now on the verge of happening and that has opened enough cap space to almost give Deandre Ayton the max contract he is looking for. We could see something with the Pacers and Ayton as early as today.”
Ayton had a public issue with Phoenix Suns Head Coach Monty Williams during and right after their embarrassing playoff exit at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. And even before that occurred, it had seemed unlikely that he would be given a max contract by the Suns.
The Pacers can likely take on his salary and if not that, maybe get a sign-and-trade done with Phoenix to keep that cap space. With a potential trade involving Russell Westbrook being mentioned, they might need it if they also wish to deal with the Lakers. It’s hard to tell how exactly it would work at this juncture, but if Brian Windhorst is right, the NBA world doesn’t have to wait too long to find out.
