Deandre Ayton 'did not feel valued' by Suns, is expected to receive max offer as free agent, per report
DeAndre Ayton came two games short of winning his first NBA championship a season ago, yet when the offseason arrived, he had to watch his contemporaries from the 2018 NBA Draft get paid before him. Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Michael Porter Jr. and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all got max deals. Ayton was drafted before any of them. The Suns refused to pay him the max, but they did extend teammates Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet. So he went into his fourth season in Phoenix without a long-term deal. That season ended on Sunday when the Suns lost Game 7 of their second-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. Ayton played just 17 minutes. When Suns coach Monty Williams was asked why Ayton's role was so limited, he replied "that's internal." Now, it seems, some of the tension that bubbled underneath Phoenix's success all season is beginning to surface. "Going into the season, Deandre Ayton did not feel valued by this Phoenix organization," Adrian Wojnarowski...