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Deandre Ayton next NBA team trade odds: Mavericks, Pacers, Blazers favored with Suns expected to shop former No. 1 pick after embarrassing playoff elimination

Will Deandre Ayton be a member of the Suns next season?

Matt Severance

When the Suns acquired Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets around the February trade deadline, Phoenix became the favorite to win the NBA title and stayed in that ballpark the rest of the way, but the season ended in hugely disappointing fashion on Thursday in a 125-100 blowout home loss to Denver in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. There will be changes for the Suns this offseason, reportedly starting with a potential trade of Deandre Ayton. SportsLine offers odds on where Ayton will open the next season if not in Phoenix.

Would the Suns have beaten Denver on Thursday if Ayton had played – he sat with a rib contusion -- with Chris Paul still out? It's hard to know, but Ayton did have a team-worst minus-57 rating through the first five games of the series. His backup, Jock Landale, started in his place Thursday and played quite well, shooting 5-for-6 from the field for 13 points with five rebounds and a block in 31 minutes. His plus/minus rating of plus-7 was not only tops on the team, but Landale was in fact the only starter on the plus side. He might have earned a bigger role going forward but is a restricted free agent.

Durant was minus-13 in his 37 minutes of Game 6, and Devin Booker was a whopping minus-27 in his 36 minutes. Durant called it "embarrassing" to have his season end in a blowout loss. Booker left the arena without speaking to the media, an uncharacteristic move.

New owners like to make changes, and the Suns were recently purchased by former Michigan State basketball walk-on Mat Ishiba, who already endeared himself to Suns fans by signing off on the Durant trade and its extensive cost in players (Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson), draft picks and luxury tax bills.

Durant and Booker aren't going anywhere, nor should they. Paul also could be on the market, but there may not be many interested parties for a 38-year-old who hasn't played more than 70 games in a regular season since 2016. He missed the final four games against Denver with a groin injury.

Thus, trading Ayton is likely the only major move on the table other than perhaps firing head coach Monty Williams, which is not expected, even though the Suns also were also embarrassingly ousted from the 2022 playoffs as favorites on their home floor in Game 7 of Western Conference semifinals by Dallas, 123-90. Thus on Thursday, Phoenix became only the third team in NBA history eliminated from the playoffs in consecutive seasons with 25-plus-point losses.

The Suns were lukewarm on brining Ayton back this past offseason as a restricted free agent after he signed a four-year, $133 million offer sheet with Indiana. Phoenix did discuss potential trades with the Pacers, but ended up simply matching the deal rather than lose the 2018 No. 1 pick for nothing. Ayton doesn't have the best relationship with Williams, either. The big man revealed early in training camp that he did not have one conversation with his coach all last summer, even after signing his maximum contract.

Ayton would be excited about a fresh start with another franchise, sources told ESPN, and the Suns are expected to aggressively explore the trade market for him. Is he a franchise player? No, but the fact that he's a 24-year-old who averaged 18.0 points on 58.8% shooting and 10.0 rebounds per game this season makes him an enticing asset. In the playoffs, he averaged 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds on 55% shooting. There will be a market.

Ayton is set to make $32.5 million next season, with two more years on his contract after that. While the Suns would likely prefer to ship Ayton to the East, expect the Dallas Mavericks to chase him. The Mavs badly need a big alongside Luka Doncic (whom the Suns should have taken first in 2018) and Kyrie Irving – if Irving re-signs, that is. Ayton would be a massive upgrade on Dallas starting center Dwight Powell.

Chicago is still trying to contend with a flawed roster, and starting center Nikola Vucevic is a free agent. The front office has said it wants to re-sign Vucevic, but he is eight years older than Ayton. Chicago and Phoenix potentially could do a sign-and-trade for Vucevic.

Charlotte was mentioned as a possible Ayton suitor last summer, and the Suns have had interest in point guard Terry Rozier as a potential Paul successor. Portland almost has to do something this offseason to keep Damian Lillard happy. Any deal would start with Jusuf Nurkic, but his salary alone isn't nearly enough to make the deal work under NBA rules.

The Pacers signed center Myles Turner to a two-year extension, and he had a very good season but is also three years older, and Indiana considered a Turner for Ayton sign-and-trade once already.

Toronto wants to re-sign unrestricted free agent Jakob Poeltl but might chase Ayton if it can't retain Poeltl. A sign-and-trade is possible there as well, as the Raptors might be ready to overhaul a large chunk of their roster after a disappointing season and with a new head coach en route. After next week's draft lottery and the June draft, Ayton's market should come into more focus. It's always possible he could be dealt ahead of or during the draft.

Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Deandre Ayton's team to start the 2023-24 NBA season if not the Suns

  • Mavericks +300
  • Pacers +400
  • Blazers +700
  • Hornets +900
  • Bulls +1000
  • Raptors +1200

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