Look, I’m not now and never have I been a fan of trading away the best player coming or going. The Suns won the last two major trades — Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal — but this time they decidedly did not. We all saw it coming, because this time the player to be traded away was Deandre Ayton.
For two years now, the Phoenix Suns have made former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton available in trades, and for two years they pulled him back because the offers were too low. You recall the summer after the 2021 Finals, when 2018 draftees Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton became eligible for big-money extensions on their rookie deals?