NBA rumors: Grading the Mavs’ declined trade offer for DeAndre Ayton
According to Marc Stein, the Mavs made an offer for Deandre Ayton during the NBA Draft. It shouldn’t be a surprise the Suns turned it down.
According to Marc Stein, the Suns, and Mavericks had failed trade talks that involved Deandre Ayton. The initial talks were centered around Tim Hardaway, a first-round pick, and other salary filler. The Mavs made a final proposal offer of Tim Hardaway Jr, Richaun Holmes and JaVale McGee for Ayton.
Yes, the Suns would have been stuck with these players due to the fact that all of these players are on bad contracts but this is a Suns team that needs depth over everything else. Holmes is a solid starter in this league on a bad contract. McGee is a player who can be a backup big for the team.
Finally, Hardaway is on an expiring for next season which would have allowed the team to shop his contract for other players if the roster was not working out. Yes, none of these players are one of the best bench/role players in the league but the team has already made their bet on a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth.
The Suns would only need to get one or two players on a vet min contract to fill out the rest of the rotation. It wasn’t a great offer and not surprising they turned it down. But they still need to do something.
Suns trade grade: C-
This would have allowed the Mavs to get a very good starting center in Deandre Ayton. They would have also dumped most of their bad contracts. This would help the team going forward as they have two max contracts in addition to Ayton’s deal.
When you have two defensively players challenged players in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, having a center who could clean up their messes is the best move for the team. This is a very similar situation that the Trail Blazers had when they traded for Jusuf Nurkic. Yes, that team had a ceiling but Irving is a better player than CJ McCollum and Doncic is a better player than Damian Lillard.
With this in mind, it might mean that the team could be a championship contender for the next couple of years until Irving ages out. The Mavericks still need a couple more solid bench, rotational players. Still, this deal would help them get closer to contention.
Mavs trade grade: B
Will Deandre Ayton end up getting traded?
Honestly at this point, if the Suns did not accept this trade offer, it is unlikely that a deal gets done. The Suns are asking for a perfect trade return for Ayton. This is not possible due to the fact that he is on a max contract and the situation between the two parties is not very good.
For Ayton is staying with the team, but the Suns do not have any depth going forward. At some point, if they want to win a title, they will most likely need to trade him for other depth pieces. This deal might be the best that they will get.
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