Phoenix Suns Match Indiana Pacers 4 Year 133 Million Offer Sheet To Deandre Ayton Agents Say

The Suns had until 11:59 PM ET on Saturday to match the largest offer sheet in NBA history, but they immediately matched and ended the Pacers’ pursuit of Ayton. Phoenix showed no inclination to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal with Indiana before Ayton signed the sheet, sources said, signaling the Suns were likely to match the offer sheet once it was presented to them. If the Suns didn’t match up, they would lose Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, for nothing. The Suns can’t trade Ayton until Jan. 15 — and they can’t trade him for an entire year without his consent. That removes Ayton from any potential offseason trade scenario involving Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. Namakian of Innovate Sports and Duffy of BDA Sports and WME had insisted to the Suns that they could find a max contract offer for Ayton on the market, and they handed it over with the offer sheet. The Suns had never made Ayton a max offer, suggesting they didn’t value him as a max player. The largest offer sheet signed by a non-matching team was when Harrison Barnes was signed by the Dallas Mavericks for four years and $94.4 million in 2016, the same summer Barnes’ former team, the Golden State Warriors, signed him Durant as a free agent.

Ayton was excited about the prospect of pairing with talented young guard Tyrese Haliburton and becoming a centerpiece of the Pacers’ rebuild, sources told ESPN. Indiana traded Malcolm Brogdon earlier this season and Domantas Sabonis last season, moving into a new era centered on an exciting young backcourt of Haliburton, a rising star, and rookie Bennedict Mathurin, the sixth pick in the NBA draft of last month. The Pacers needed to clear $4.7 million in cap space to sign Ayton to the max offer sheet. To do that, Indiana waived guard Duane Washington and waived the three players Boston traded for Brogdon: Malik Fitz, Juwan Morgan and Nick Stauskas, sources told ESPN. Ayton, who turns 24 next week, was selected with the first pick in the 2018 draft out of Arizona, part of a star-studded draft class that also included Luka Doncic (third), Jaren Jackson Jr. (fourth), Trae Young ( fifth) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11th). After making the All-Rookie first team in 2019, Ayton developed into a quality starting center, averaging 16.3 points and 10.5 rebounds while helping anchor Phoenix’s defense during its run to the 2021 NBA Finals — the first time the franchise has reached the championship round since Charles Barkley led the Suns there in 1993. He averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds last season, shooting 63.4 percent from the field and 74.6 percent from the foul line. After an outstanding regular season, capped with the league’s best record, Phoenix’s postseason run ended with a loss to the Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals — a game Ayton spent most of the second half time watching from the bench. When asked after the game why that happened, Suns coach Monty Williams said, “It’s internal.” Ayton, meanwhile, declined to speak to reporters after the game. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks contributed to this report.

title: “Phoenix Suns Match Indiana Pacers 4 Year 133 Million Offer Sheet To Deandre Ayton Agents Say " ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-28” author: “Mark Harris”

The Suns had until 11:59 PM ET on Saturday to match the largest offer sheet in NBA history, but they immediately matched and ended the Pacers’ pursuit of Ayton. Phoenix showed no inclination to negotiate a sign-and-trade deal with Indiana before Ayton signed the sheet, sources said, signaling the Suns were likely to match the offer sheet once it was presented to them. If the Suns didn’t match up, they would lose Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, for nothing. The Suns can’t trade Ayton until Jan. 15 — and they can’t trade him for an entire year without his consent. That removes Ayton from any potential offseason trade scenario involving Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. Namakian of Innovate Sports and Duffy of BDA Sports and WME had insisted to the Suns that they could find a max contract offer for Ayton on the market, and they handed it over with the offer sheet. The Suns had never made Ayton a max offer, suggesting they didn’t value him as a max player. The largest offer sheet signed by a non-matching team was when Harrison Barnes was signed by the Dallas Mavericks for four years and $94.4 million in 2016, the same summer Barnes’ former team, the Golden State Warriors, signed him Durant as a free agent.

Ayton was excited about the prospect of pairing with talented young guard Tyrese Haliburton and becoming a centerpiece of the Pacers’ rebuild, sources told ESPN. Indiana traded Malcolm Brogdon earlier this season and Domantas Sabonis last season, moving into a new era centered on an exciting young backcourt of Haliburton, a rising star, and rookie Bennedict Mathurin, the sixth pick in the NBA draft of last month. The Pacers needed to clear $4.7 million in cap space to sign Ayton to the max offer sheet. To do that, Indiana waived guard Duane Washington and waived the three players Boston traded for Brogdon: Malik Fitz, Juwan Morgan and Nick Stauskas, sources told ESPN. Ayton, who turns 24 next week, was selected with the first pick in the 2018 draft out of Arizona, part of a star-studded draft class that also included Luka Doncic (third), Jaren Jackson Jr. (fourth), Trae Young ( fifth) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11th). After making the All-Rookie first team in 2019, Ayton developed into a quality starting center, averaging 16.3 points and 10.5 rebounds while helping anchor Phoenix’s defense during its run to the 2021 NBA Finals — the first time the franchise has reached the championship round since Charles Barkley led the Suns there in 1993. Ayton averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds last season, shooting 63.4 percent from the field and 74.6 percent from the foul line. After an outstanding regular season, capped with the league’s best record, Phoenix’s postseason run ended with a loss to the Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals — a game Ayton spent most of the second half time watching from the bench. When asked after the game why that happened, Suns coach Monty Williams said, “It’s internal.” Ayton, meanwhile, declined to speak to reporters after the game. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks contributed to this report.