How it happened: Inside look at Phoenix Suns trading Deandre Ayton to Portland Trail Blazers

There’s a consensus Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns needed to part ways.

In talking with a league source since Phoenix traded Ayton to Portland in a three-team deal Wednesday that sent All-Star Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, this is not surprising.

Ayton’s five-year run with the Suns after being taken first overall in the 2018 draft out of Arizona had major highs and head-scratching lows. He’ll now start anew with the rebuilding Blazers while the Suns got four players in return starting with 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic.

Nassir Little and Keon Johnson also came from Portland while Grayson Allen was at Milwaukee.

Fresh start for Ayton to have a more meaningful role for a team that needs him.

For Phoenix, more talent to complement its Big 3 of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.

The Suns announced Sunday Damion Lee, a rotational player from last season, recently suffered a knee injury, but have addressed depth and versatility all offseason through trades and free agent signings.

With Phoenix beginning training camp Tuesday, here’s an inside look into the how the Ayton trade went down and what it means to the franchise moving forward.

48 hours

The Blazers had reached out to the Suns in the last couple of weeks, but talks didn’t take an uptick until 48 hours before the trade went down, league sources say.

There are always conversations taking place in “NBA circles” that can lead to something bigger, but also dissolve into nothing. When it comes to Ayton, the Suns haven’t been in constant trade talks about him, but they’ve had periods of conversations over the last three years with spikes occurring in free agency.

That trend stayed true this summer, but the Suns seemed prepared to enter camp with Ayton.

Then the Blazers worked out a deal with the Bucks regarding Lillard, but they found themselves in position of feeling a need to get a deal done with camp being a week away.

Think of it as a deadline to give the teams time to bring in their new players for camp.

The Suns weren’t under the same timeline as the Bucks and Blazers. They could’ve gone into camp with Ayton, but they have a mentality of being ready to engage in serious opportunities when presented.

Lillard was the center of the trade, not Ayton.

Milwaukee and Portland had to figure that out before considering a third team.

What if

Negotiations between the Bucks and Blazers reached a certain point.

The Suns were identified as a third team, but the trade doesn’t go down if they don’t agree to it.

Each team must agree to a trade and a letter is then sent to the NBA to confirm they agree with the terms of the trade.

In situations like this, there usually are more than just one third team being considered.

Phoenix just happened to be the team chosen in this situation.

The Suns liked what they were receiving in return as they’ve had previous conversations with Portland, but still could’ve bowed out of this three-team deal.

Fit, tradeoff

The Suns viewed the trade as one that correlates to the players on the roster and how their roles have developed or expanded, league sources say.

In other words, fit.

Ayton is a really good player who at times played great for the Suns, but the trade gives Phoenix depth and versatility. With the direction the team was going, Ayton’s fit wasn’t as good as it once was.

This is clearly an entirely different team than the one that reached the 2021 finals. Booker and Ayton were the only two players remaining from that 2020-21 team coached by Monty Williams.

The Suns fired Williams after their 2023 playoff run and hired Frank Vogel, who won an NBA championship coaching the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2019-20 season that ended in the Orlando Bubble.

The Suns saw this as a way to improve by adding Nurkic, who will start at center, Allen and Little in particular. The Suns have 17 players on their standard roster going into camp, but they must shave down to 15 before the regular season begins.

Phoenix opens Oct. 24 at Golden State.

Johnson is viewed as someone the Suns could waive, but Lee’s injury may impact what they do.

Trading a talent with upside and entering his prime like Ayton is tough, but the Suns are getting value in return that can help them win.

Second tax apron

The Suns had four max players under contract in Booker, Durant, Beal and Ayton before moving Ayton. They’re still over the second tax apron of $182.5 million, a situation that limits roster flexibility.

This trade addresses that moving forward.

Ayton is due $69.5 million total the final two years of his deal while Nurkic is set to receive $37.5 million as both of their contracts end after the 2025-26 season.

Allen is in the final year of his deal that’s paying him $8.5 million, Johnson has a club option on his final year in 2024-25 and Little has three years left on his contract for a total of $21.7 million.

New team owner Mat Ishbia has been a willing spender as evidenced in dropping a record $4 billion to buy the Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

The billionaire mortgage lender traded for Durant and Beal, but the Suns considered salary when looking at sustainability, flexibility and how much they’re paying their top three players, league sources say.

Booker’s supermax of four years, $224 million kicks in next season.

Durant is in the second year of a four-year, $194-million deal while Beal in in the second year of a five-year, $251-million deal with a player option on the final year.

Nurkic, Allen, Little and Johnson

The Suns didn’t just agree to the trade on a whim.

League sources say they have more than an idea on what each player brings to the table, what roles they can play and how that applies to the team.

Nurkic — Size. Can score, pass, read defenses. History of working with elite guards like Lillard.

Little — Athletic. Finisher at the rim. Perimeter defender. Can guard multiple positions.

Allen — Shooter (career 39.5% from 3). Handle the ball. Played quality minutes. Toughness.

Johnson — Young. Freak athlete. Upside.

Allen’s reputation

Allen has been viewed as “dirty” player dating back to college at Duke where he tripped multiple players, but that reputation didn’t cause the Suns to pause on the trade, league sources say.

Phoenix isn’t known for playing dirty, but the franchise had its share of players who are aggressive and get under the skin of their opponents with Jae Crowder being one of them.

The Suns have prided themselves on having a culture of being competitive that doesn’t involve crossing the line or injuring players.

League sources say Allen will likely adjust his game to the environment in Phoenix.

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 X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Inside look at Phoenix Suns trading Deandre Ayton to Portland Trail Blazers