What does the Deandre Ayton trade mean for the Phoenix Suns’ championship quest?
Video: Felisa Cárdenas and Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports
Subscribe to the Arizona Sports daily newsletter: https://bit.ly/3QWcj1x
Read articles from Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/
Download the Arizona Sports app: https://arizonasports.com/the-arizona-sports-98-7-fm-app/
Sign up for texts from Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/text-alerts/
Listen live to Arizona Sports: https://arizonasports.com/listen-live/
Follow the team: https://bit.ly/3R0PIAJ
ARIZONA SPORTS SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArizonaSports/
X: https://x.com/azsports
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arizonasports987
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arizsports/
ARIZONA SPORTS PODCASTS: https://arizonasports.com/category/podcasts/
23 Comments
only Hoopers can play w KD and Book
These guys don't know what the hell they're talking about!! The Suns are a machine. Josh Okogie will not be starting at the 3!!! He will be a bench player, Mark my words!!! Bates-Diop WILL be the 4 while Durant shifts to the 3. (Book it!!) This kid is the dark horse NOBODY is talking about!!! He is long, athletic, young, has hops, has a decent 18 footer, plays aggressive, blocks shots etc.. Suns fans always skim the top.. Again, Mark my words.. Diop will have a break out year!! He has the potential to be whatAmar'eStoudemire was to the Suns!! Yes, I said that. Nurk, if he can stay healthy is EXACTLY what the Suns needed. Ayton wants to be a top scorer……… WE GOT AN ARMY OF SCORERS!!!! Nurk just simply needs to grab boards and play D in the paint!!!! (Wantanabe, or however you spell his name) will also provide length, shooting and if he will work on D…….. Suns will be a NIGHTMARE!!!! You heard it here tho….. Okogie is too small to play forward!!! They are in love with his tenacity… Naaah… Diop will move him back to a 2-3. Come back to this post in 3 months and thank me later!!!!!
ALSO: if the Suns were smart… I'd dig up Carmelo Anthony and pay him the league minimum… especially after freeing up that Ayton money!! He is (obviously) a vet, hungry for his first chip. We know what he does good and bad…. but if nothing else, he would be a PHENOMENAL bench guy, for these younger players!!! Sign him …
On paper the Suns got worse, but as far as a fit they got better. Ayton needed to go. I do think Ishbia has another trade under his sleeve tho
do they forget we have bol bol?
As a lakers fan I hope they go KD at the 5😂
They 100% got better. Ayton isn't a Man and he has all the potential to be but he's still a young man. Who likely will take until 30yrs old until he finds his man balls.
Would have been nice if we got Jrue Holiday in this trade
I just wanted too see Booker,KD, Bol,Beal and Ayden on the court. this was probably better in the long run.
I was rooting for DA, great regular season player — but we’ve seen him quit in consecutive playoff runs. He’s gonna look great on a team with zero pressure to win and lots of opportunities to score. I wish him luck.
Ayton has a low BB IQ. inconsistent effort is particularly aggravating from a max player.
We only see the physicality we're missing but his attitude with coaches and then with booker was getting old.
Why did you do this to us Gambo. Why.
Although I have a doubt. Nurkic has regressed a bit. If Vogel can revive DA why can't he do the same for Nurkic?
He was a giant sulking toddler who didn't wanna be here anymore.
The 21' team is something that I doubt will ever be seen in Phoenix again.
I'm a fan of building a team that grows up to win the championship, which almost happened in 21'.
The Suns have bought this team of freelance guys now and I hope that one season will be long enough to get them together to get the ring, but I can only see this team deteriorating in the next few seasons to come.
They fail this year and I will not be holding my breath after that.
its easier to play basketball when you don't have cancer.
Not having DA only hurts if someone gets hurt. Especially in the playoffs. It's disrespectful to forget all the playoff games DA saved the Suns when Book or CP went down ! Nurk is not the type of guy to get you 25 n 15 on 60% in the playoffs when your all stars go down.
Means it's over. They were talked about before the season as an incredibly talented and dangerous team and the favorite to win it all by alot of analysts. So why change that? They traded a young, number 1 pick center with more talent in the hoped that nurkic ( who listening to blazers insiders ) is injury prone, pouts when he doesn't get the ball and takes games off. Good rebounder and sets screens but does anyone seriously see him having more ability to stop jokic over ayton? They also traded a big for small players( nurkic aside ) and also in conference which you should never do. They also helped the bucks emerge as a major threat to their title chances. But hey, James Jones got some more wings on this team so…..
I think Ayton wants to be “the man” and had no chance at it here, so now he gets the chance. We now have some guys at center who want to win, play hard and will do the dirty work. The heavy lifting so to speak. Nurc, Drew, Metu, Udoka and even possibly Bol. It’s up to Vogel now to conduct this orchestra. Let’s go Suns!
I wish I lived in arizona still so I could listen to y’all on the radio everyday
By breaking this news, Gambo ruined my life
DA was one of those guys who just never fully signed up for the team.
You could see it in his body language. Picked no.1 given a max contract and the team still wanted him gone.
My guess is there was a lot more behind the scenes that turned the team against keeping DA.