Deandre Ayton Trade Rumors: Bulls, Mavs, Blazers, Hornets Linked to Suns Center

The Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Charlotte Hornets are reportedly viewed as potential landing spots for Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton in an offseason trade.

According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, an anonymous NBA executive pointed to the aforementioned teams as possible suitors for Ayton if he is made available as expected.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported Friday that the Suns are likely to "aggressively explore" an Ayton trade, and Ayton "would be excited about a fresh start with another franchise."

Per Deveney, an anonymous NBA general manager said Ayton is on the Bulls' "list" of players to look into. The possibility of a swap of centers in Ayton and Nikola Vučević was mentioned, although the Suns reportedly aren't looking to spend big money on a center if they trade Ayton.

Another possible deal mentioned was Ayton to Chicago for veteran wing DeMar DeRozan, who is signed through next season.

An anonymous exec added Dallas, Portland and Charlotte into the mix as potential suitors, but noted that there isn't necessarily a big trade market for centers right now.

Phoenix originally selected Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft out of Arizona, and he has spent his entire five-year NBA career with the Suns thus far.

The 6'11" big man was a restricted free agent last offseason, and while the Suns seemed reluctant to sign him to a maximum contract extension, they did match the four-year, $132.9 million offer sheet he signed with the Indiana Pacers.

Ayton has not come anywhere close to being a superstar player with no All-Star selections or All-NBA nods during his career, but he has been fairly productive.

In 303 career regular-season games, Ayton owns averages of 16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 block. He was right around those numbers this season, averaging 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.8 blocks.

Ayton's play dipped during the playoffs, though, to the tune of 13.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 0.7 blocks in 10 games.

He had a particularly tough go during the Suns' second-round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets, as he lost playing time to Jock Landale and missed Phoenix's season-ending Game 6 loss due to a rib injury.

Ayton was utterly dominated during the series by two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, who averaged 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists in six games.

It is unclear how much the Suns could get in return for Ayton given his hefty contract, but he is still just 24 years of age and could benefit from a change of scenery.

Given the Suns' superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, it seems likely that they will explore any and all options this offseason to find the right mix around them and improve their chances of vying for a championship next season.