ESPN's NBA guru Adrian Wojnarowski just dropped one of his Woj bombs on Wednesday. According to the renowned NBA insider, the Phoenix Suns are on the brink of trading away Deandre Ayton as contract extension talks continue to stall.
Woj reports that the Suns are now looking to do a sign-and-trade deal for Ayton as opposed to letting him walk away as a free agent:
“They're very motivated to find a sign-and-trade, get some assets back for him,” Woj said. “They do not value Deandre Ayton at a max contract.”
"They're very motivated to find a sign-and-trade… They do not value [Ayton] at a max contract."
Woj on where things stand between Deandre Ayton & the Suns#NBATwitter #ValleyProud pic.twitter.com/DDccMcGFuU
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) June 23, 2022
Ayton is actually a restricted free agent, which means that the Suns can match any offer an opposing team might make. However, as reported by Woj, Phoenix does not see Ayton as a max player, and this only means that the Suns will be unwilling to match an offer made by any team if the said team decides to table a max deal for the 23-year-old.
Woj also talked up the possibility of Ayton joining the Detroit Pistons, who themselves just cleared a ton of cap room after trading away Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers. At this point, it would not be surprising if Ayton finds himself on a plane to Detroit in the near future.
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