Suns make HUGE DECISION about DeAndre Ayton’s future with franchise
Phoenix Suns does not plan to move their starting centre away from the squad
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Phoenix Suns' Deandre Ayton (NBA)
The Phoenix Suns made one of the biggest trades a few days ago sending their point guard Chris Paul to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Bradley Beal.
The Phoenix Suns with their aggressive moves in the trade market left many to wonder whether or not they might try to deal with their star Centre Deandre Ayton to get back bench depth that the Suns critically need right now. However, the team have announced that they will be keeping Ayton for this season.
As per the reports from NBA Insider, Chris Haynes: “Phoenix Suns are moving forward with the plan of keeping Deandre Ayton to play alongside Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.” The report came as a surprise for other front offices as the Suns are literally bound from making any other changes to their roster without moving out Ayton.
The Phoenix Suns are featuring one of the best star lineups for next season with the likes of Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in the lineup but keeping multiple max players on the same team comes with a price as the Suns’ first four starters’ salaries already crossed the salary cap, and the organization is likely to be deep in the luxury tax once the roster is completely filled up.
Ayton was strongly pursued by the Portland Trail Blazers in an attempt to pair him up with Damian Lillard, but the deal fell off after the Blazers did not have the right package to meet the requirements of the Suns.
Why did the Suns decide to KEEP DeAndre Ayton?
The Phoenix Suns are heavily restricted by the new CBA making it harder for them to even sign veteran players let alone free agents due to them being a repeated luxury tax offender. The team is also restricted from trading their first-round picks as a penalty for crossing the Luxury tax threshold.
The main focus for the team should be to add more players to support the stars in the starting lineup as the same problem for them last year was their lack of bench depth and the Suns can very much get solid role players by trading DeAndre Ayton, or they can at least free up cap spaces to sign other mid-level free agents.
The front office has other plans as per a report from Chris Haynes: “Suns believe Ayton’s value to the franchise is at an all-time high with the additions of Beal and Durant. Phoenix wants to see them play together.”
The Suns’ centre might show fatal flows in the Playoffs but overall, he is still one of the better centres in the league and can very well help a team contend for an NBA title.
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