It was remarkable mostly because it was the first time anyone had come out and said Deandre Ayton was the subject of trade talks.
When Dave Pasch, who lives in the Valley and calls NBA games for ESPN, appeared as a guest on Doug & Wolf this week, he dropped a blunt report that the Suns “looked into trading” Ayton last summer.
By that, Pasch seemingly meant the summer of 2019, after Ayton’s first season. During the summer of 2020, transactions were frozen across the NBA. Of course, at the start of Ayton’s second season, he was suspended for violating the league’s substance policy after testing positive for a diuretic in his system.