Kings Reportedly Inquired About Deandre Ayton

The Sacramento Kings reportedly checked on the status of Ayton prior to the NBA Draft.

The list of teams interested in Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton has grown long. 

Organizations such as the San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers are just some of the teams that have reportedly, at minimum, held interest in the No. 1 pick. 

You can now add the Sacramento Kings to that list. 

The Athletic's Zach Harper mentioned Ayton in his pre-draft column on Wednesday and discussed if the Suns would actually move on from their center. Here's what he offered on the matter:

Kings Inquired on Deandre Ayton

"In the blink of an eye, the Phoenix Suns went from, 'Could this be the year they finally win the title?' to getting knocked out in the second round and nobody expecting Ayton to be back with them next season. The tricky part about is that Ayton is a restricted free agent. There are only two ways he ends up far away from the Suns’ organization. He could sign the qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2023, or he and his agent orchestrate a sign-and-trade in restricted free agency. The Suns can match any offer sheet thrown his way, and once the offer sheet is signed, the Suns can no longer manufacture that sign-and-trade.

"It’s going to come down to how willing both sides are to work together to make sure both sides end up happy but also separated from each other. Sources have told The Athletic that Ayton is being highly sought after by Detroit and Atlanta, and Sacramento has checked in on a potential acquisition. The Hawks and Pistons both have a ton of flexibility to get a deal done. Even if a team is able to offer Ayton a max offer sheet, the Suns would be expected to match rather than lose him outright.

"Atlanta could offer up any number of its nice young players and satiate the Suns in their “win-now mode” by parting with Clint Capela to keep the defensive-minded Suns approach whole at the center position. Detroit doesn’t quite have that Capela piece to include, but it could dangle Jerami Grant as the veteran ready to help you keep winning. The Suns could do a lot of small ball with him, but they’d still need a center in the mix. Sacramento can offer Barnes as the veteran and also include the fourth pick in the draft in a potential sign-and-trade deal for Ayton, but the Kings wouldn’t be able to complete that until after free agency starts. It would have to be somewhere Ayton wants to go. It also would involve the Suns being cool with trading to a division foe."

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