Mavs' Trade Interest in Suns' Deandre Ayton 'Overstated': NBA Insider

The Mavs have been linked in trade speculation to Suns center Deandre Ayton often since the end of the 2022-23 season.

DALLAS — After finishing the 2022-23 season with a 38-44 record, the Dallas Mavericks face a need to bolster the roster around Luka Doncic. Aside from retaining impending free agent Kyrie Irving, the Mavs must find away to improve on defense and at rebounding.

For the Mavs to improve in those areas, they must find a way to improve their on-ball containment to better manage dribble penetration, while also addressing the apparent lack of rim protection. A commonly speculated option for the Mavs has been Deandre Ayton, who seems likely to be traded by the Phoenix Suns this offseason. 

For now, it remans to be seen which team will be Ayton's landing spot. According to Marc Stein, the Mavs' trade interest in Ayton has become "overstated to this point" and there is no sense that he's a top trade target. 

Stein also noted that while there are fans of Ayton in the Mavs organization, naturally, there are others who are concerned about whether the big man can live up to the remaining three years of his four-year, $133 million contract. Right now, Stein doesn't sense Ayton as being a priority on the trade market for Dallas.

Ayton failed to rise to the occasion when he was needed most in a matchup against two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets during the Western Conference semifinals. After averaging 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in 67 regular season games, his production dropped to averages of just 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in 10 postseason performances. 

Instead of productive play being a focus, Ayton's effort had been questioned by many. It became enough of a concern to the point that he was asked about his "motor" during games, to which he fired back — referring to himself as "Dominayton." While they were the only two games the Suns won in their series against the Nuggets, Ayton was held to four points in Game 3 and eight points in Game 4.

“Man, I don’t know what that is. Motor? Come on, I play both ends of the floor," Ayton said. "My name is Dominayton, I anchor the Phoenix Suns on both ends of the floor. Motor, man? Really? Nope! I run on Tesla battery.”

There has been doubt about Ayton's future with the Suns since the organization opted to not outright offer him a contract extension last summer and ultimately making him sign an offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers before matching.

Quickly after the Suns' postseason elimination, ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported that Ayton would be excited about a fresh start in the offseason. Additionally, he mentioned that Phoenix will be aggressive in exploring the trade market to move on from him before next season. 

With the Suns needing to make the most of a title contention window after trading for Kevin Durant, the team is likely to get aggressive using the trade market this offseason to re-tool around him and Devin Booker. Ayton is expected to be among the players that Phoenix will work hard to move. 

The Mavs need to put together a strong 2023-24 campaign after such a drastic fall going from a Western Conference Finals run to failing to even qualify for the play-in tournament. Given the Suns' likely asking price coupled with Ayton being signed to a max contract, Dallas would need major confidence in his impact.

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Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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