Phoenix Suns Must Deal Deandre Ayton amid NBA Trade Rumors
The Phoenix Suns are in the process of shocking the NBA once again.
And, no, the surprises probably won't stop after their recent move to add Bradley Beal, as Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported.
As drool-inducing as the potential of an offense featuring Beal, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant might be, Phoenix will need to flesh out its roster at some point. Since those three are all well-paid, the Suns will need some cost-effective role players to join the fold, likely at the expense of incumbent center Deandre Ayton.
The Suns "are confident" they'll find an Ayton deal to their liking, a Western Conference executive told Heavy.com's Sean Deveney, and they should be.
A trade market will materialize for the 24-year-old at some point, and it would be best for Phoenix (and the big fella) to get yet another megatrade done.
Depth a Major Concern for Phoenix
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The Suns have clearly bought into the notion that stars win biggest in the league, and they aren't necessarily wrong in that assessment. History shows a number of NBA champions had rosters loaded with star power.
Of course, many of those title teams had rock-solid role players supporting those stars, too. The Suns simply don't have them now, and it's unclear how they plan on adding them.
Beyond Ayton, Beal, Booker and Durant, Phoenix only has two other players who are (sort of) on the books for next season. Ishmail Wainright has a $1.9 million team option, per Spotrac, and Cameron Payne has a partial guarantee on is $6.5 million salary.
That's it. As things stand, that's the entire roster. That means the Suns aren't only severely top-heavy, but they're also following the lead of four players who all count scoring as their greatest strength.
Phoenix has to find balance, not just by deepening the roster but finding players who can fill cracks as perimeter stoppers, paint protectors, table-setters, rebounders and hustlers.
Ayton Will Attract Suitors
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While Ayton's trade market is currently "tepid," per Deveney, that won't be the case much longer.
Remember, we haven't even reached the draft or free agency yet, so most teams are as optimistic as they'll be at any point of the offseason. Once they start seeing doors close on their Plan A and Plan B targets, Ayton, the 2018 top pick who's been a walking double-double, will emerge as one of the best options available.
"Not everybody is going to get just what they want in the next two weeks in the draft and trades and free agency, and if Deandre is not already gone, he is going to look very good to a team like Portland or Charlotte or Dallas," the executive told Deveney.
Ayton has averaged at least 16 points and 10 rebounds in four of the past five seasons. Only five other players—three of them MVPs—can match that, per StatHead.
Suns Need Role Players More Than a Scoring Center
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While fit is something you'll hear a ton about during this week's draft, it's something that isn't always discussed enough relating to established pros.
Yet, team needs, opportunities and skill set overlaps are just as meaningful to veterans as they are to incoming rookies. And that's yet another reason for the Suns to move on from Ayton.
He isn't a scoring specialist, but that's clearly the sharpest part of his game. It's also one that would be underutilized in Phoenix, as he'd be an obvious fourth option behind Durant, Booker and Beal. If the Suns wouldn't find Ayton consistent touches, they wouldn't be using him to his full potential.
He could only offer so much help as a fourth option, and it would be frankly less helpful to the club than the two or three role players he'd bring back in a swap.
Flip him for a rim-running center, a knockdown shooter and an athletic defender, and Phoenix's roster would be in much better shape despite giving up the most talented player in that hypothetical trade.
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