Report: Suns fielding ‘a lot of calls’ on Deandre Ayton post-Beal trade

The Phoenix Suns pulled the trigger on yet another blockbuster move this past weekend in their agreed upon trade of Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards in exchange for a package that includes point guard Chris Paul.

And from the sounds of it, the deal has appeared to spark outside interest elsewhere on Phoenix’s roster.

Since the Beal trade was reported Sunday, Phoenix has been “getting a lot of calls” on center Deandre Ayton, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

“Deandre Ayton will be your fourth-best player on this team and we’ll see if he’s going to be there,” Charania told The Pat McAfee Show (clip contains expletives). “One thing that has happened since this trade is Phoenix has been getting a lot of calls on Deandre Ayton in the last 12-18 hours.

“Teams are seeing if now Deandre Ayton is a little more attainable. We’ll see if he’s going to be back on the team or not next year.”

It’s a quick turn of events when it comes down to the market for Ayton.

Before the Beal trade came down the wire, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski last Friday called the market for Ayton “lean” while on with The Ryen Russillo Podcast.

The 2018 No. 1 overall pick is coming off his fifth NBA season where he averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 1.7 assists across 67 games played. He shot 58.9% from the field and 76% from the free throw line.

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