Trail Blazers can become suitors for free agent Deandre Ayton

Phoenix Sun center Deandre Ayton may not return to the Phoenix Suns next season, according to a report and analysis by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Wojnarowski appeared on ESPN’s NBA Today show, reminding viewers that Ayton “did not feel appreciated” in Phoenix at the beginning of the season. He also speculated that Ayton would receive a maximum-level offer from other NBA teams that the Suns may not be interested in matching.

The 6’11 center averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game. match for the Suns this season, and appeared in 58 games in the regular season. He shot 63.4% from the field and 36.8% from the three-point arc, though the latter statistic was earned on limited attempts. His shooting and scoring numbers remained straight through 13 games in the 2022 NBA Finals, though his rebounds ebbed slightly to 8.9 per game. match. Phoenix lost in seven games to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of their playoffs.

After just finishing his fourth year at Suns, Ayton will be a limited free agent in July. The Suns will have the right to match any offer he receives from a rival franchise.

Here is the transcript of Wojnarowski’s comments:

As he entered the season, Deandre Ayton did not feel valued by this Phoenix organization. They were unable to reach agreement on his rookie extension. He saw all the other players in his class, or many of the top players, get extensions. He wanted a maximum deal. He did not want to move from that. So now he is moving towards limited free agency this summer where he now gets some more options. But in the end, Phoenix can still match an offer out there and keep him if he signs an offer form with another team …

You get to look at the teams with cap space. A team like Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Portland. Teams that could create enough space to go out and sign him. But also the discussions about a sign-and-trade, which means teams that may not have cap space. And if Phoenix decides they want assets back for Deandre Ayton – they do not want to match an offer sheet and either decide to pay him the max or allow him to go for nothing, which I think is what they do not want do – there will be many conversations around the league. Deandre Ayton is going to get a maximum contract in the market somewhere. Phoenix really needs to look at the distribution financially, of how they will distribute salaries, money. That’s what this is.

The relationship with Monty Williams had been one of the real benefits. I think their ability to work together and build a relationship, it becomes interesting to see how the end of the season affects this. But that’s going to be one of the stories of this offseason, for Deandre Ayton, there are a lot of teams queuing up to figure out, “How can we acquire him?”

Wojnarowski mentioned the Trail Blazers as a team with the potential to clear cap space to make an offer to Ayton. They will not have space available at the start of free agency. In order to generate sufficient approval to give Ayton a maximum offer, calculated at a starting salary of $ 30.5 million, the Blazers would have to waive the rights to their established free agents and / or get rid of non-guaranteed contracts. The names involved include Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, Josh Hart, Joe Ingles and Eric Bledsoe.

Alternatively, the Blazers could explore sign-and-trade opportunities, retain their own players and then move assets to Phoenix after the Suns re-signed Ayton.

Jeremy Brener asked readers if they would be interested in Ayton in a well-timed post earlier today.