Getty Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton
The Phoenix Suns have spoken to the Boston Celtics about a Deandre Ayton trade, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT.
The Suns’ preference is to trade Ayton to get more depth, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.
Gambadoro, who covers the Suns, talked about Ayton’s future in Phoenix with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
“I think the preference for Phoenix is to trade Deandre Ayton to get depth,” Gambadoro said. “Their top three are set with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. Their problem — and this is why they’re not better than the Denver Nuggets — is their four, five, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth guys. They don’t have depth. If you can trade Ayton and take that $30 million salary and turn it into two or three good players, that’s the preference.
“You’ve got to find a team willing to take Ayton. He’s got over $100 million left on his contract in the next three years, and he hasn’t been a dominant center. He’s not Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic. He’s a good player, and somebody who trades for him might get 22-24 points a night and 12 rebounds, but if he’s your second-best player, you’re probably not going to win.”
Malcolm Brogdon to the Suns?
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Suns are interested in acquiring Malcolm Brogdon from the Celtics.
Phoenix and Boston could do a trade centered around Ayton and Brogdon.
“Of the four Celtics guards, Brogdon’s name has been mentioned the most among league executives this past week, although Phoenix has so far been the only team cited by several NBA voices as a suitor to have interest in the Sixth Man of the Year,” Fischer wrote.
Brogdon, who won the Sixth Man of the Year Award this past season, averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 67 games for the Celtics while shooting 48.4% from the floor, 44.4% from 3 and 87.0% from the free-throw line.
The 2016-17 Rookie of the Year with the Milwaukee Bucks, Brogdon signed a two-year, $85 million contract extension with the Indiana Pacers in October 2021. He’ll make $22.5 million next season.
Suns Tried to Get Kyrie Irving
According to Ian Begley of SNY, the Suns reached out to the Dallas Mavericks about a potential sign-and-trade deal for Kyrie Irving.
Dallas wasn’t interested in making a trade, so Phoenix shifted its focus to Bradley Beal, who waived his no-trade clause to play with Suns superstars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
“The Suns don’t have much trade capital left after acquiring Bradley Beal from the Wizards,” Begley wrote. “So it’s fair to assume that they can’t make a trade for a top player like Kyrie Irving. But it’s worth noting that Phoenix had interest in Irving earlier in the offseason. The Suns were among the teams to reach out to Dallas about a potential sign-and-trade for Irving earlier in the offseason, per sources familiar with the matter.
“Dallas, presumably, wasn’t interested in what the Suns offered at the time. If the Mavs were blown away by the offer, logic says that Beal wouldn’t be a Sun today.”
