Phoenix Suns receive B-plus grade in free agency, have 'mending' to do with Deandre Ayton

Free agency isn't over, but Phoenix received a B-plus from CBS Sports for what it has done so far this summer.

The Suns' latest move was matching a four-year, $133-million offer sheet the Pacers extended to center Deandre Ayton last week.

"For all the reported discord between Ayton and the Suns organization and questions about how he was valued, they certainly wasted no time matching the Pacers' max offer sheet to retain the 23-year-old former No. 1 pick," Colin Ward-Henninger wrote. "Now he can't be traded until January, which eliminates him as a piece in a potential Kevin Durant deal if it takes place this offseason."

It's the largest offer sheet for a restricted free agent in NBA history.

"(The Suns) didn't value Deandre Ayton at a max contract, max money," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said last week on ESPN's NBA Today. "They had doubts that anyone else in the league who could create cap space and would also value him at a max. They challenged his agents, Bill Duffy and Nima Namakian, to go out and get an offer sheet."

This comes nearly a year after the Suns and Ayton's representatives were unable to agree on a rookie max extension of five years, $172 million, before the 2021-22 season.

"Perhaps they handled things poorly by not just maxing out Ayton last summer, but in basketball terms they should be just as potent next season." Ward-Henninger added.

Wojnarowski said "some mending" must occur between the Suns and Ayton, who had a verbal exchange with head coach Monty Williams early in the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals top-seeded Phoenix lost to Dallas by 33 points.

With Phoenix down 38 points, Williams took Ayton out with 8:26 left in the third quarter and didn't put him back in the game after the verbal exchange.

Ayton scored a playoff-low five points in just 17 minutes of action.

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When asked after Game 7 why Ayton only played 17 minutes in the biggest game of the season, Williams said, "it's internal" and chose not to elaborate.

"Monty Williams has a very strong relationship overall with Deandre Ayton, but it gets tested in this process," Wojnarowski said. "... I think once Deandre Ayton gets back to Phoenix, gets back to work, certainly he understands that this is a team that again this year has a chance to compete for a championship and they'll figure this out. He'll fit back in and they'll go back to work."

Phoenix's first move this free agency was giving Devin Booker a four-year, $224-million supermax extension at the start of free agency. The All-Star guard became eligible for the supermax after making first-team All-NBA this past season.

Booker's supermax kicks in when his rookie max extension ends after the 2023-24 season.

In between the Booker and Ayton deals, the Suns re-signed Bismack Biyombo, signed free agents Damion Lee and Josh Okogie and acquired Jock Landale in a trade with Atlanta for cash considerations.

They did lose backup big JaVale McGee as the unrestricted free agent signed a three-year, $20.1-million contract with the Dallas Mavericks.

Guard Aaron Holiday and big Frank Kaminsky, who the Suns waived in April, signed with the Hawks.

Kaminsky missed 67 straight games with a  "right knee stress reaction" according to the team's injury report.

However, Durant remains out there after requesting a trade from Brooklyn at the start of free agency and putting Phoenix and Miami atop his wish list.

Durant is on a four-year, $198-million max extension that begins this season.

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The talk in Las Vegas during NBA Summer League was that a third team was needed for the Suns to get Durant as Brooklyn is looking for an All-Star and multiple first-round draft picks.

The Nets reportedly weren't interested in Ayton, but Ayton needed to go to the third team like say Indiana or Utah in a sign-and-trade for the deal to go through.

The Pacers instead extended Ayton an offer sheet after clearing cap space for a max deal.

When the Suns matched it, they could no longer trade him to Indiana and Ayton has veto power over any trade to the remaining 28 teams.

The Suns can't trade Ayton until Jan. 15, but only if Ayton approves the trade.

So Durant somehow landing in Phoenix seems less likely, especially if the Suns won't put Mikal Bridges in the deal.

If Durant does end up starting the season with the Suns, CBS Sports might want to rethink that B-plus grade for Phoenix's free agency moves this summer.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns receive B-plus in free agency, have 'mending' to do with Ayton