Deandre Ayton

Surely, Deandre Ayton’s free agency is similarly easy to predict. The Suns spent the #1 pick in the draft on him. They advanced to the NBA finals with him playing a critical role and followed that up by leading the 2021-22 regular season in wins. Surely, they’ll match any offers he receives in restricted free agency, right?

Not necessarily. The Suns could have extended Ayton already but declined to do so. Meanwhile, team owner Robert Sarver is, to put it politely, notoriously responsible with his money.

Ayton will find suitors. Teams may be reluctant to offer max money to a non-shooting big man in 2021, but Ayton’s proven himself capable of producing at an elite level. Young teams like the Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder are rumored to have an interest. Teams in need of a big man might be too (the Toronto Raptors come to mind).

The situation between Ayton and the Suns may be volatile, but we expect it to come to a tidy conclusion. If the Suns make another decent playoff run, it’s going to be hard for Sarver to justify letting Ayton walk. That wouldn’t just be fiscally responsible: it would be malpractice.

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For all the nasty rumors surrounding Sarver, this feels like too much of a no-brainer for anybody to whiff on.

Prediction: Phoenix Suns