Suns, Mavs had advanced Ayton trade talks during draft

He Suns and Mavericks came close to making a deal on draft night that would have sent deandre ayton to dallas, according to marc stein (Substack link).

Sources tell Stein that the proposed trade would have resulted in Tim Hardaway Jr., Richaun Holmesand JaVale McGee heading to Phoenix. However, the Suns balked at the idea of ​​getting McGee back as part of the package. It is not yet known whether the negotiations can or will be revived, Stein writes.

The package Stein described, which doesn’t include any draft compensation, seems pretty light for a former No. 1 overall pick. Sources told Stein the Suns were intrigued because they liked Hardaway and Holmes and saw them as players who they could immediately enter the rotation next to the stars. Kevin Durant, Devin Bookerand bradley beal. His contracts would also be moveable in subsequent operations.

While one of Stein’s sources would not rule out the possibility of Phoenix and Dallas resuming trade talks, separate reports on Friday and Sunday indicated that the Suns intend to hang on to Ayton, making it seem like the team has walked away from any talk involving the big man that occurred before or during Thursday’s draft.

Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who reported on Saturday that the Suns had spoken with the Sixers about a deal involving Ayton and tobias harrisalso follow-up on Sunday by stating that Phoenix had finished its search for Harris and planned to stay with Ayton.

As HoopsHype’s Yossi Gozlan points out (through Twitter), if the two teams are willing to reopen their negotiations, it would make sense to turn any potential deal into a four-way trade with the Thunder and Kings that includes the former davis bertans and holmes agreements. In that scenario, they could find a way to divert McGee to Oklahoma City or Sacramento.

McGee is still owed roughly $12 million in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, including a player option for 2024/25. That 2022 signing seems like a clear mistake by the Mavericks, who also explored signing bruce brown using part of his mid-level exception a year ago, but decided McGee was a “bigger prize,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said during the latest Hoop Collective podcast (Twitter audio link).