Moore: Ayton speculation has gotten silly, so let's look at possibilities from the future

Let’s go back to the future with the Phoenix Suns and Deandre Ayton to look at the present — specifically, Thursday, July 14, 2022 — as if it were the past.

It’s either going to be 1.21 gigawatts of reshuffling the entire NBA championship landscape, or the most overhyped and mundane free agency imaginable.

We don’t need to go far, just out to the All-Star Game, Feb. 19, 2023. There are plenty of ways the day could look, and it all starts with a cadre of general managers arguing over a 23-year-old center whose future looks a lot brighter than his past.

Back to the Future: Part 1

Suns General Manager James Jones and his counterpart in Brooklyn, Sean Marks, want to make a deal.

Marks wants to send out a disgruntled Kevin Durant, but the Nets front office doesn’t want to build around a center. They want a young star who plays on the perimeter.

That means they need to work out a three-team deal — at a minimum.

Maybe Jones and Marks can get on the phone with Utah honcho Danny Ainge? (Jerry Colangelo can set up the call. Marks and Ainge used to work for him. Jones runs Mr. C’s former franchise.)

This would send Utah’s Donovan Mitchell to Brooklyn.

Ayton would go to Utah.

Durant would come to Phoenix.

There would be draft picks and other players involved to make the salary math work.

But if this is how it plays out, Phoenix is in first place at the All-Star break. Durant and Chris Paul are coasting, letting Devin Booker get most of the shots. They’re biding their time before the playoffs. All they want is a showdown with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

Ayton, meanwhile, has made his first All-Star team, playing for a Utah franchise that’s got a legacy of memorable big men, from Mark Eaton to Rudy Gobert, but none with the offensive firepower of Ayton.

Donovan Mitchell is an All-Star, too. He accounts for at least half of Brooklyn’s offense every night.

But that’s not the only way this drama could play out.

Back to the Future: Part 2

Brooklyn’s Marks wants more than Mitchell. He wants draft picks — lots of them.

This would set up the potential of a four-team trade, but if there are four teams involved, why not five? And any deal that big can only mean one thing: The Lakers are involved.

The Suns, Nets, Pacers, Jazz and the dreaded Lakers get on a conference call and agree to the craziest deal since the Monstars tried to trade LeBron James and Diana Taurasi for Michael Jordan. (That happened, right? Probably not.)

Durant comes to Phoenix.

Kyrie Irving goes to LA.

Russell Westbrook goes to Brooklyn.

Mitchell goes to Indiana.

And Ayton goes to Utah, site of the 2023 All-Star game.

NBA fans have spent so much time arguing over the deal (and adjusting their rosters on NBA 2K) that they almost missed the first half of the season. It wasn’t until Christmas Day that everybody realized what a great deal it was for all sides.

Durant and Booker take turns dropping 60 on opposing defenses. Paul hasn’t taken a shot all year, but he averages 30 assists a night because one time when he was a kid Scott Skiles was mean to him. (Skiles set the record for assists in a game with 30, and he has no recollection of snubbing a young Chris Paul because it never happened … also Chris Paul has never been young, he was 30-something when he was born.)

Westbrook has gone from stylish dude to global fashion icon, he’s like “Don’t Mess With the Zohan” but with triple doubles.

Irving and LeBron keep fussing at each other on Twitter, but they have more followers than ever. (Also, the Lakers are undefeated with Irving, James and Anthony Davis in the lineup — which has happened twice.)

Mitchell never made it to the Pacers, but he plays for that high school from Hoosiers, Hickory, and he’s getting ready to bust up South Bend in the state championship. He’s never been happier.

Ayton, well, he’s an All-Star, and he won’t stop talking about his MyPlayer on 2K.

Of course, the story could go another way.

Back to the Future: Part 3

James Jones refuses to match the offer sheet, and at a news conference to explain his decision, he reached under his collar and pulls off a mask to reveal that he was Larry Bird in disguise the entire time!

(OK, probably not.)

Back to the Future: Part 4

The Suns match Indiana’s offer sheet and Ayton returns to Phoenix.

Monty Williams expands Ayton’s role in the offense, and the Suns are on pace to win 70 games, and they’re praying they don’t meet New Orleans in the first round.

Ayton is an All-Star, and he gets in the 3-point shootout just to show his versatility.

He wins the shootout, mainly by hitting every money ball and sinking a half court underhand granny shot to win a tiebreaker over Booker.

Durant plays for Brooklyn, averages 30, and tweets a lot. He’s an All-Star.

Indiana is Indiana. They have no all-stars.

Larry Bird is on the phone with James Jones trying to negotiate the trade of a DeLorean for two first round picks and Myles Turner.

Jones is considering it — because he wants KD in Phoenix.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Moore: Durant-Ayton speculation moves so fast we need a time machine