The Dallas Mavericks made an “underwhelming offer” to the Phoenix Suns for Deandre Ayton, according to NBA insider Gerald Bourguet. The Suns rejected the Mavericks’ offer for Ayton.
“That leaves Deandre Ayton, who’s been the subject of trade speculation off and on for years now,” Bourguet wrote in his latest NBA trade column. “One source told PHNX Sports that the Dallas Mavericks made an underwhelming offer for Ayton over the summer, and ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported in May that Ayton would be ‘excited about a fresh start with another franchise’ following the Suns’ second-round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.”
The Mavericks wanted to acquire Ayton to give All-Stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a dynamic center. However, according to NBA insider Zach Lowe of ESPN, there is no viable trade right now turning Ayton into the kinds of players (or picks) that would maintain or boost the Suns’ NBA title odds.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks Updates
Ayton averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists last NBA season while shooting 58.9% from the field and 76.0% from the free-throw line. He recorded 36 double-doubles and helped Phoenix win 45 games in the regular season.
However, Ayton’s level of play dropped in the 2023 NBA playoffs. The center averaged 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in 10 games versus the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets. Ayton put up 10.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in the Nuggets series and didn’t register a positive plus-minus rating in any game.
The Suns lost to the Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Western Conference Semifinals in six games. Ayton didn’t play in Game 6 due to a rib contusion he suffered in Game 5. Meanwhile, the Mavericks missed the play-in tournament last season after making the Western Conference Finals in 2022. Doncic said, “Something’s got to change for sure” during his end-of-the-season press conference.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks Updates
This offseason, the Mavericks re-signed Irving and Dwight Powell, signed Seth Curry, Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr. and acquired Grant Williams from the Boston Celtics and Richaun Holmes from the Sacramento Kings.
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