Aloha
The big question with Ayton is, has he actually put pen to paper. Or did the Pacer announce his intention. If he hasn’t actually signed then a sign and trade can still happen. If he has signed, and the Suns match then they can’t trade Ayton until January 15th. Either way this probably eliminates the Suns from the KD sweepstakes until January. The Pacers must have some confidence since they just let 4 players go for cap space.
Sounds like Phoenix will match but nothing’s certain yet. Indy walking the line between tank and compete, really this was the only move they had left to improve the team while still building up a youth movement. So, while this may signal an ever-shrinking window for Durant and Kyrie finding new homes I think it would re-open the door to an Indy trade. Only question being do the Pacers want to see what Ayton and Myles and Buddy can do or just hit reset now.
That’s the thing with this whole Russ situation, it’s not the biggest loss if you don’t make the deal for everyone but LA. Indy watches Russ get traded to another team? No big deal, we were just gonna buy him out anyway and we still got lots of tradeable players from now until the deadline should things break poorly (or well).
San Antonio sees Russ traded to Charlotte or some such local? Cool, we knew that deal was either going to find another sucker, er, home. There is not one team that is doing the Russ deal because they want him to play. That is the biggest hurdle, you’re trading at a loss off the bat.
Also everyone knows that deal for Russ will be on the table all year long right up until the deadline passes. Other teams not named the Los Angeles Lakers have both the luxury of time and the knowledge that if the deal isn’t made by anyone else this summer it’ll be there. Waiting.
Just read that the 48 he clock doesn’t start to tick until midnight. They can still work a sign and trade today. It should be interesting to see if they really want Ayton on the roster until January.
It’s a problem for Phoenix to match because it will throw them into the luxury tax although they would have time to make moves after Jan 15 to trade him or reduce payroll. Hard to imagine the Suns losing Ayton for nothing. Smart move would be to match and then trade him later. Can’t lose him for nothing.
Problem though is sign-and-trades have to be agreed to by Ayton and the Pacers. Why would either want to help the Suns? Why would they want to give up players they don’t have to? They cleared the space and could very well decide that’s it. They’re done. Ayton takes up their cap.
Of course, the Pacers can now trade Turner for something, maybe like the two unprotected draft picks from the Lakers for Turner and Hield. Be interesting to see if a S&T emerges before midnight. My guess is the Pacers and Ayton aren’t interested, which opens a door for the Lakers to talk to the Pacers.
I’m pretty sure that Ayton and the Pacers will agree to a sign and trade. That’s what the Pacers originally was trying to do.They just got tired of waiting per the reports.
Why would they agree to a sign-and-trade? Why do they want to send players to Suns? They can get picks for Turner and Hield, who would have to be included in S&T to match salaries. Unless Suns want to drop a bunch of picks on them, doesn’t make sense.
Tom again the reports from Windhorst said they were trying to do a sign and trade with Turner. Going to the Suns. They want Ayton. And they know that the Suns won’t let him walk for nothing. The sign and trade is they’re best chance at landing Ayton. They may even sweeten the deal with one of their 3 first rounders next year. It wouldn’t have made sense to have him sign an offer sheet when they knew that wouldn’t work.