Suns Center Deandre Ayton Rumored to be Future Target for Mavericks
Could Deandre Ayton’s tenure with the Phoenix Suns be coming to an end?
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the Dallas Mavericks could be a potential suitor for Ayton’s services.
"(Ayton) is a name that I’ve heard around the Mavericks," MacMahon said on The Lowe Post podcast. "And again, I think that would have to be a later than right now type of situation."
The irony in this situation is insane. The Suns decided to pass on Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft and instead selected Ayton. Since then, Doncic has become a superstar with the Mavericks while Ayton has not quite lived up to expectations five years into his career.
To trade Ayton to Dallas after that fact would quite the turn of events - especially after losing to them last year in the Western Conference Semifinals in a heartbreaking seven-game series where Doncic showed why he deserved to be selected by Phoenix instead.
The fit for Ayton on the Mavericks makes perfect sense ,however. Doncic’s heroics are not enough to carry Dallas to a championship. They lack any sort of depth and star power aside from Doncic. It takes the 23-year-old star to average 33.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists for the Mavericks to just maintain a slightly above .500 record.
Adding Ayton would give Doncic a player that can take the offensive load off of his shoulders. A pick-and-roll between Doncic and Ayton could be lethal in giving them potentially one of the scariest scoring duos in the NBA.
For the Suns, an Ayton trade to Dallas does not make much sense. The Mavericks don’t have many young assets that would entice Phoenix to move on from Ayton.
If the Suns were to trade Ayton, they need to make sure that they capitalize on his value. Ayton is only 24-years-old and still has the potential to be one of the premiere centers in the NBA, which might also plays in the logic of keeping him in Phoenix.
