Sun/Blazers

[PDXKnight]

I wouldnt take Ayton on a MAX deal w/o giving up assets, much less moving #7.

The league has changed and Ayton isnt transcendent enough to be one of the few who can buck that change (Basically that being Joel and Joker).

Ayton is like the Wiggins of big men, but a worse defender as Andrew isnt a PNR liability. He will get a MAX deal and be seen as a good but grossly overpaid player.

Bigs have a slower trajectory these days and he's 23. I think its worth a roll of the dice especially if we can do it without losing major pieces. Randle for all the stuff against him came into his own at a similar age from a pure talent perspective. Ideally it'd be nurk for ayton straight up though, not sure phx does that but I think it fits both teams trajectories better at least if we deal dame

[BlazersBroncos]

I wouldnt take Ayton on a MAX deal w/o giving up assets, much less moving #7.

The league has changed and Ayton isnt transcendent enough to be one of the few who can buck that change (Basically that being Joel and Joker).

Ayton is like the Wiggins of big men, but a worse defender as Andrew isnt a PNR liability. He will get a MAX deal and be seen as a good but grossly overpaid player.

Bigs have a slower trajectory these days and he's 23. I think its worth a roll of the dice especially if we can do it without losing major pieces. Randle for all the stuff against him came into his own at a similar age from a pure talent perspective. Ideally it'd be nurk for ayton straight up though, not sure phx does that but I think it fits both teams trajectories better at least if we deal dame

I simply dont think there is any realistic trajectory that puts Ayton as worth a max contract.

Nurk will demand 14-18M, Ayton will demand a MAX. That is 14-18M vs about 32M. We would likely have to offer Nurkic S&T + Hart for Ayton - a deal that I personally think PHX would/should take and run as fast as possible.

Hitching our future to Ayton at 32M AV is simply not going to work out well long term. Ant (Assuming 22M, which is low IMO) + Ayton taking about 55M of our 122M salary cap is a gamble I would not take. I am not convinced either are more than #3 on a Championship team, and even #3 is not guaranteed.

Taking Dame into account (42M), that is a trio of Dame / Ant / Ayton taking near 100M of 122M and still one of the weaker 'Big 3's in the league, two non defensive guards, one a traditional, non shooting, average to slightly above defensive C who we are banking 32M on breaking the mold of non-generational big men being worth a MAX deal.

[Norm2953]

If Portland wanted a big, they could simply draft Mark Williams in this draft. There is no reason to pursue
Ayton

[Case2012]

We don't need a big, we need wings. Obviously we could improve at almost every position, but versatile 3/4s should be the priority. Who could we get for Simons theoretically?

[DusterBuster]

People are really underselling Ayton’s impact. I think some of the hyperbole that he would “set the team back 5 years” is some utter nonsense. This team is already on the cusp of 5 year setback if they don’t make drastic win-now moves this summer. At least take a swing for the fast turnaround, if it doesn’t work out, worst case scenario is being right back where you would have been anyway.

I do wonder about the possible team sale maybe making Portland more conservative in its roster spending this summer tho.