DeAndre Ayton is the only true big still remaining free agent, seeking a salary cap he finally found from the Indiana Pacers. The center, a restricted free agent after not receiving a satisfactory renewal offer from Phoenix last fall, signed an offer sheet from the Pacers from 133 million dollars over 4 years.
Now the ball is in the Phoenix Suns’ court, who were rumored to want to use Ayton in a sign&trade for Kevin Durant. The Arizona franchise, which selected Ayton on the first overall call in the 2018 Draft, can either tie the Pacers’ offer within 48 hours or the center will play in Indiana next season.
RFA center Deandre Ayton has agreed to a four-year, $133M maximum offer sheet with the Indiana Pacers, his agents Nima Namakian (Innovate Sports) and Bill Duffy (BDA Sports + WME Sports) tell ESPN. The Phoenix Suns have 48 hours to match the largest offer sheet in NBA history.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 14, 2022
In his final season, Ayton scored. 17.2 points averaged with 10.2 rebounds, but something between him and the franchise “broke” the moment the Suns did not want to offer him the maximum salary. In the season finale, during the Playoff series against Dallas, Ayton was even benched in the second half of the game that sealed Phoenix’s elimination.