Woj: Suns Expected to Match Deandre Ayton's $133M Contract Offer Sheet from Pacers

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly expected to match the four-year, $133 million max offer sheet center Deandre Ayton has received from the Indiana Pacers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Per that report, the Suns "haven't shown an interest in negotiating a sign-and-trade on Ayton with the Pacers."

If the Suns do match the offer sheet, they would be unable to trade Ayton until Jan. 15, though the young center would have full veto rights on any deal for a calendar year.

The Pacers also made a series of moves to clear the needed cap space to sign Ayton outright:

Until Ayton officially signs the offer sheet, he could be part of a sign-and-trade deal. Once he signs it, however, that option disappears, and the Suns—who balked at offering him a max extension in the past—will be deciding between matching the offer and keeping Ayton, or watching him walk without receiving anything in return.

Contending teams generally aren't in the business of just letting key players walk for nothing, even if it means overpaying:

Ayton signing the offer sheet also makes it highly unlikely the Suns will be able to land Kevin Durant in a trade unless they were willing to part with a player like Devin Booker—which almost assuredly won't happen—or get rid of almost all of their depth pieces and key role players like Mikal Bridges to match salaries (alongside a mountain of draft picks and pick swaps).

The 23-year-old averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this past season, shooting 63.4 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three. While he isn't an elite rim-protector, he's a solid enough defender and an excellent pick-and-roll pairing for a player like Chris Paul or Tyrese Haliburton, depending on his team next season.

The Suns may have a window to explore trades before Ayton officially signs the offer sheet, but the Pacers and the young center have pretty firmly put a deadline on that option. Once he signs, the Suns are going to have to decide between what they consider to be an overpay to keep Ayton that takes them around $15 million into the luxury tax, or simply waving goodbye.