Did Suns Make Mistake by Trading Deandre Ayton?

Are the Suns really missing their former center?

Dec 8, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Portland Trail Blazers center Deandre Ayton (2) reaches for a pass in front of Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie (12) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- Two months into the 2024-25 NBA season - one thing is certain: The Phoenix Suns are stuck in a rut of inconsistency - especially after dropping winnable contests against the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons.

One topic of discussion that has been brought up to varying degrees over the last week is whether the Suns made the correct decision by moving on from former number 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton over a year ago.

The Suns really really really really really miss Deandre Ayton.

— JustAnAverageJoel (@ParadoxicalJoel) December 22, 2024

One could argue that the departure off of Ayton has only magnified other holes within the roster - as Ayton was a solid, if unspectacular rim protector - and a great play finisher around the rim.

Ayton has remained moderately productive in Portland as well - despite playing on a squad chalk-full of bigs. Meanwhile in Phoenix, Jusuf Nurkic has spent much of his time struggling with things that Ayton did at fairly high levels.

The other piece of the equation that could hurt is the fact that Phoenix sent Toumani Camara out in the deal as well after the Trail Blazers insisted that he be included.

Camara has been a high-impact defender since virtually game one of his career now, but his 36.4% mark from three-point range at over 4 attempts per game looms large currently.

Camara could fit in extremely nicely into the wing rotation while also further insulating potential injuries or cold stretches of play.

The one silver lining could be Grayson Allen.

The second-year Sun has become a quality rotational piece and could either continue to be that or could serve as a trade chip to upgrade the roster elsewhere.

At the end of the day, the Suns likely lost the trade. Portland and Milwaukee received the best returns in the deal, but the Suns ultimately had intangible factors such as team chemistry that had to be taken into account with Ayton - the union had run its course.

The Suns were also handicapped by the 4-year maximum offer sheet that Ayton signed with the Indiana Pacers in which they had to match.

Losing Ayton for something rather than nothing was always the right move - and his departure felt like an inevitability despite a potential talent dip in direct response to the transaction.

Nurkic will be off the books for Phoenix in the summer of 2026 - while a potential Bradley Beal trade could give the Suns the ability to maneuver the market for upgrades sooner than expected - so it could end up working out in favor of the franchise.