Despite trade rumors suggesting the opposite, the Suns will keep center DeAndre Ayton.
According to Chris Haynes, the Suns are keeping Deandre Ayton. This comes after a Suns insider said that the team is unlikely to trade for Ayton due to the offers being extremely low.
The Suns' lineup looks like this going forward:
PG: Devin Booker
SG: Bradley Beal
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: a player that will need to sign in free agency (likely via minimum deal)
C: Deandre Ayton
Bench: Cameron Payne, Jordan Goodwin, Toumani Camara (second-round draft pick), and other players via a minimum contract
NBA Rumors: Why would the Suns keep DeAndre Ayton?
The team probably could not get good enough in return for the player. This is the only way for Phoenix to achieve depth. The Suns have wanted to trade Ayton for a very long time. They tried to move him last offseason, but were unable to and had to match an offer sheet that was given by the Pacers.
Due to the fact that Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant are injury prone, this Suns are in danger of not having enough depth to get a high seed in the West. This is a team that will need to have their stars score a lot of points due to the fact that their rotation outside of their top-four players is very weak. At least, that's the reality as this team is currently constructed.
Phoenix will also hit the second tax apron after this offseason, which will severely limit the moves that they can make via trade next offseason. They will also be unable to use their mid-level exceptions during this offseason. The team will have to rely on minimum contracts to fill out the rest of their roster.
This is probably a good move for the team to make if the offers were not there. Still, this showcases the fact that the Bradley Beal acquisition was most likely a huge mistake. It forced the Suns to get rid of any other remaining draft pick trade chips and also put a huge contract on the books for the next five seasons.
