The atmosphere still seems so “special” between Deandre Ayton and the Suns. After a media day that looked like torture for the Cactus pivot, the Bahamian giant wanted to reassure everyone. Waffle, reconciliation… we let you make up your own mind.
While the Nuggets and the Suns are ready to do battle tonight in the preseason, the Denver announcer is introducing his players. ” Number six Deandreee Aytooon“. We then say to ourselves that we have just missed one of the trades of the year and that the Nuggets are going to acquire a Jokic – Ayton racquet. Denver aficionados calm down, this is all fiction. It is absolutely not Deandre Ayton but good old Dédé Jordan who will wear number 6 this season. For a few seconds, the Phoenix player may even have believed in it, he who would have had desires elsewhere this summer. Huge blunder or huge speaker bomb? The first option obviously seems the most credible.
The Nuggets announcer introduced DeAndre Jordan as Deandre Ayton ???? #Shaction pic.twitter.com/087z49DkeO
— When’ a Fool (@when) October 11, 2022
A brief reminder of the facts. During the Free Agency, Ayton was expecting a max contract from the Suns. The check never came and the pivot had to sign with the Pacers before seeing his team match Indiana’s offer to keep him in Arizona. The number one of the 2018 Draft took it a bit badly and if we add to that a more than cold relationship with Monty Williams since the last Playoffs, we get a not really refreshing cocktail and a very crestfallen mine during media day. Ayton was the face and it has not escaped anyone. Even if the interested party has just calmed things down with his coach in an interview with theArizona Republic :
“We talk (with Monty Williams). In the end, we were just trying to win a game. Everything is back to normal. Nothing has changed to be honest. Yes, I may have come to media day being a little bland, but I wasn’t trying to make a fuss or anything, that slipped my mind. I can’t really say anything. All I know is that we worked. We fought against each other, we faced each other in training camp. The coach loved it. »
According to Ayton, the clouds have dispersed over Arizona and the deal is in good shape. After all, the scenario may be possible, but the Suns have an interest in reaping the victories at the start of the season to avoid some problems. We just remember that Phoenix has just experienced a more than complicated summer with the Ayton case, the Robert Sarver affair, and the management of the upcoming Jae Crowder trade. The best friend of LeBron James should pack his bags in the coming days, his profile as a big defender capable of stringing attracts people and lately, it is the Hawks who would hold the rope to welcome him. One thing is certain, everything is not very clear in Phoenix and the first game of the season against the Mavericks could already give some solid answers. It was precisely against Dallas, during the Conference semi-finals, that the tensions between Ayton and Williams had come to light… Atmosphere.
Source texte : Arizona Republic.