Deandre Ayton was one of two Phoenix Suns players left on their roster just a few weeks ago from their 2021 NBA Finals team with guard Devin Booker.

Ayton was picked by the Suns No. 1 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. In his first season, he said he and Booker would be like “Shaq and Kobe 2.0.” The claim had fans excited.

It took a while, but Ayton turned into an important player for a team contending for a championship. He set playoff records in the 2021 run that paralleled Wilt Chamberlain's NBA Finals statistics. Former Suns point guard Chris Paul said following the team's Game 4 win in the 2021 Western Conference Finals Ayton was “going to get a bag” with a max extension opportunity upcoming.

He did, but it wasn't how he wanted it.

Ayton signed a four-year, $132,929,128 contract with the Indiana Pacers in restricted free agency in 2022. The Suns reportedly did not view Ayton as a max contract player and there were clear indications he felt disrespected by it.

Many felt after Ayton's viral reaction on the bench in Game 7 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals he would be gone. Ayton never gave any public indications he wanted to leave Phoenix but the crippling relationship between he and the franchise's view of his worth eventually exploded and led to a trade that many felt was long overdue. The Suns dealt Ayton to the Portland Trail Blazers, who play in Phoenix Monday night, in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic, who majority owner Mat Ishbia said is a better fit for the team's pursuit of a championship with Booker and stars Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant on the roster.

The Trail Blazers had a shootaround Monday morning at Footprint Center. Ayton had some of the best moments of his life in the arena, most notably the play known as the “Valley-Oop,” a game-winning lob dunk to beat the Clippers in Game 2 of the 2021 Western Conference Finals that had Suns fans more excited about him than ever.

Still, Ayton told reporters he feels like he is where he wants to be with Portland, a team that traded superstar Damian Lillard and has up-and-coming players like top-3 pick Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons and Shaedeon Sharpe.

“They sent me where I can be valued and be appreciated and [have] the things I wanted in my career,” Ayton said. “…They throw me where guys are my age, and it's just a process of learning new basketball and starting something new.”

Clearly for Ayton, something needed to change after this past season. He and former Suns coach Monty Williams did not speak in the offseason and it was clear they had a contentious relationship as the team tried to put together a run for a title following a blockbuster trade for Durant in February.

Ayton needed to be a rebounder and defensive presence, something that his self-acclaimed nickname, “DominAyton,” should cover. For whatever reason, it didn't.

Ayton said in the playoffs he runs on “Tesla battery” and his motor should not be questioned. But he did not react well when a reporter asked about a play during Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals in which he stood after the basket and watched Nuggets center Nikola Jokic relentlessly chase an offensive rebound.

For better or worse, the Suns moved on from Williams. It seemed to indicate a chance for Ayton to turn his career around, and there was a perfect basketball coach entering Phoenix's organization, Frank Vogel, to try and do it.

Vogel made it clear after he was hired he saw Ayton as one of the best two-way centers in the NBA. Vogel had gotten the most out of former Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, who is much less gifted than Ayton as a basketball player, with all-defensive honors. The now-Suns coach had immense talent with Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard with the Los Angeles Lakers and used those pieces to create a top-tier defense that stunted every team en route to their 2020 championship.

Vogel even said in an interview he understood he would have to get Ayton more offensive touches for him to buy into the role the Suns were expected to need him to play next to their big three.

Still, the Suns moved on from Ayton. It felt like the team's relationship with him held on by a thread because of his value from his 2021 playoff run, but it eventually ripped when it dealt him to Portland.

Ayton seems to be happy with the Trail Blazers. He has a chance to revive his career, which is something all sides can agree needs to happen.