Suns to 'Explore' Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton Trade; Could Mavs Capitalize?
DALLAS — The landscape around the NBA appears primed for a significant amount of trade activity during the offseason. There even was a deal completed involving the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder during the NBA Finals.
With an increasingly restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement in place, NBA teams will have to be cautious with how spending is allocated to its players. The Phoenix Suns are a prime example of a team that could be impacted as they may move on from Deandre Ayton and/or Chris Paul this summer.
Some of the speculation surrounding Ayton being traded stemmed from comments made by the Suns' new head coach, Frank Vogel, who gave the former 1st overall pick glowing reviews in his introductory press conference. The messaging communicated about Ayton was involved describing him as one of the NBA's best centers.
“He’s shown that at times throughout his career,” Vogel said. “I know he showed it when we played them in the playoffs a couple of years back.”
Vogel even went further to say that Ayton has untapped offensive potential and he has motivation to work toward "restoring him" as being an All-Star level talent.
“There’s still areas he can grow offensively, but I’m intent on really connecting with him and restoring him to an All-Star level player,” Vogel said.
A lot of times, it's important to not weigh public comments at feel-good press conferences too heavily. It's common for these statements to end up aging poorly, but they are the ones that need to be said at the time.
There remains smoke surrounding a possible Ayton trade. After the latest buzz surrounding Paul surfaced ahead of his June 28 contract guarnatee date, ESPN reported that Phoenix is exploring trades involving Paul and Ayton to reconfigure the roster around Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
"Phoenix plans to explore trade opportunities including Paul and Deandre Ayton that could alter the franchise's roster landscape ahead of a final decision on Paul's partially guaranteed contract, sources said," Wojnarowski reported.
The Dallas Mavericks are a team that many around the NBA are monitoring as far as potential trade activity is concerned. The team remains motivated to add win-now talent around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Even despite overstated trade interest in Ayton, the general idea of making a center upgrade will continue to link them.
The concern for the Mavs would naturally be whether Ayton can live up to his contract and if parting with the necessary trade assets to acquire him would be worthwhile in the end. He is coming off a season averaging 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 30.4 minutes per game.
Ayton is set to enter the second year of a four-year, $132.9 million contract, which will earn him $32.5 million in 2023-24. With the Mavs already paying Luka Doncic is already set to earn $40.0 million next season, while Irving can earn up to $47.0 million for the first year of a new max contract if he returns.
Whether the Mavs get involved in an Ayton trade or not, it will naturally impacted the greater center market around the NBA. It remains something to monitor as the team evaluates the trade landscape using the 10th pick in this year's NBA Draft.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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