Can the Phoenix Suns land Anthony Davis and keep Ayton?
There have been rumors of the Phoenix Suns swapping Deandre Ayton with Anthony Davis. But could they pair the two in the front court instead?
As my fellow writer Adam Maynes recently wrote, fans of the Phoenix Suns (and likely the front office) are hoping to see the team find a third star to place next to Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton as soon as this summer. At the moment, that star is Anthony Davis.
The ideal scenario is not to swap one of the young centerpieces of the team for another star but rather to bring that player in to add to the two centerpieces.
Why replace one of your two best players with another star? Yes, it would be great to have that player in the Valley but it would be even better to add him to the Booker and Ayton duo, not get rid of one of them to pull him in. The franchise should look to expand and build on their solid core, not simply change it.
When a player that is on the same caliber as “The Brow” is put on the trade block, teams and their fans are going to dream big. What would be even bigger is to form this trio not a possibly more dynamic duo.
The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin mentioned the rumor of swapping the two big men on 100 Second Shot Clock recently, specifically making note of the connection with Monty Williams. There’s another good relationship as well, between new Pelicans GM David Griffin and Phoenix.
Griffin isn’t going to simply hand a star to the Suns from his own team, regardless of how close he may be with this franchise. However, if Phoenix is able to put together a solid deal that is comparable to his best offers, he may lean in favor of his former team and friend James Jones.
In a deal that would see Ayton swapped for Davis, the team would have to answer some tough questions. In a deal that would see them paired together as a monster frontcourt duo, not so much.
Q: Is Davis better than Ayton and would he make the Suns better than Ayton would next season, potentially into a playoff team?
A: It doesn’t matter. It does in a swap of the two big men, but not when being paired together. When setting the two in the middle with Booker outside, there is no doubt at all that this team would improve drastically and with Monty as coach, there is a very strong possibility that he re-signs and is here for a long time to come, if not the remainder of his career. With that trio having the potential of becoming a legitimate “Big 3”, the future would be very bright for the Suns.
What would a trade look like if Ayton is not included?
The Suns get their man in Davis to add to Booker and Ayton in hopes of tremendous improvement in the very near future and likely be a playoff team starting next year.
The Pelicans get a large expiring contract in Johnson which will lead to about $20 million in cap relief after this coming season, a young prospect in Jackson that could arguably be the best player on the wing for them next season and this year’s 1st round pick from Phoenix, which could get them Zion Williamson.
Related Story. Ayton for Davis?. light
That’s not a bad deal. Of course, the key part of this deal relies on what pick the Suns are awarded March 14 and the Pelicans would be wise to wait and see before making this deal. However, if it’s in the top-3 then it would definitely be a strong possibility and days as a Suns fan would be instantly better.