Layup Lines: What is the Suns’ end game with Deandre Ayton?

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The Phoenix Suns had been playing hardball with star center Deandre Ayton since last summer when he first became eligible for the rookie max extension. They didn’t offer it to him then, and they didn’t offer it this summer either, instead allowing him to seek max money with another team as a restricted free agent.

Well, Ayton found that max deal Thursday in the form of the largest offer sheet in NBA history, a reported four-year, $133 million deal with the Indiana Pacers. And Phoenix obviously matched it, as it became evident they could lose the young center for nothing.

So now the Suns have a player on the roster who they’ve made clear they don’t value at the money he’s about to be making. Negotiations last summer left Ayton “disappointed” and feeling disrespected, and nothing about the way this summer has gone is likely to change that. But he also remains the second or third best player on a team built to win now. So what was really the point?

I don’t know the answer to that. But I do know Ayton’s new deal will pay him a reported $33 million annually. Had Phoenix offered him the rookie max last summer, he’d be on a contract that averaged about $34 million. So they potentially upset the 2018 No. 1 overall pick who will only be 24 at the start of next season and is improving each year over a difference of $1 million a year? It seems cheap and leaves no wonder why the Suns missed the playoffs 10 straight years before Chris Paul’s arrival.

Teams pay players more than they value them all the time because the market dictates how much players are worth. Ayton was always going to fetch a decent price tag, which means Phoenix should have traded him a long time ago if they didn’t want to pay him. Now a trade feels even more inevitable but will have to happen at a more inopportune time if and when it occurs.

After signing his extension, Ayton can’t be moved until Jan. 15. That means the Suns could potentially be in the middle of another incredible regular season — like last year’s first-place season — when they have to decide or be forced to get rid of a key piece of that. It’s not an enviable position, especially if there’s no obvious upgrade available. But it was all completely avoidable.

The Tip-Off

Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

When news first broke of Deandre Ayton’s offer sheet with the Pacers, the first thought on a lot of people’s minds was what it meant for a potential Kevin Durant trade to Phoenix, which was reportedly one of KD’s preferred destinations.

The answer to that was one of the three shocking facts about the record-setting offer outlined by my colleague Bryan Kalbrosky.

“It was pretty easy to connect the dots that a sign-and-trade centered around Ayton would make a lot of sense for both parties, even if Ayton were simply re-routed to a third team.

But restricted free agents who agree to an offer sheet are not allowed to be included in sign-and-trade transactions. So in turn, the biggest consequence of today’s news is that Ayton cannot be involved in a sign-and-trade for KD.

Phoenix could potentially still land KD in a trade centered around Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, but that feels less enticing for Brooklyn. So with the Suns potentially weakening their bid, does that mean Durant ends up staying with the Nets next season?”