Phoenix Suns

Deandre Ayton's season may have ended with some clear tension with coach Monty Williams, but Suns general manager James Jones expects the center back next season. 

"Deandre had an amazing season, and he's progressed every year and improved every year," Jones told 98.7 FM's Burns & Gambo. "He's been here, and so he's a big part of what we do. His future with us is something we will address at the proper time, which is in the future. He's a free agent and I've said all along, he's about the same things we're about, which is winning. We'll address it at the proper time."

Ayton played only 17 minutes in the Suns' Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals. His conspicuous absence led to questions for Williams after the game, leading the coach to tersely say it was an "internal" matter.

Williams was also non-committal when asked about Ayton's future with the Suns during his season-ending press conference. Ayton has not addressed the media since the end of Game 7.

"It's one of those things where you're playing an emotional game and at an emotional point," Jones told reporters Wednesday. "It's a game of emotions and feelings, and sometimes your feelings get hurt and you process it and you move on, but we're adults. We're teammates. We're grown men. Those things you handle and you move on and improve from."

Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, is a restricted free agent this summer. The Suns chose not to give him a maximum contract extension last summer, a move that some questioned after Ayton's breakout 2021 postseason.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Ayton "did not feel valued" by the Suns as a result of the contractual stalemate.

Ayton is going to get a max contract by someone this offseason; it's all a matter of whether it happens in Phoenix. The Suns could explore a sign-and-trade with an interested team and seek a scoring option on the wing to ease the burden on Chris Paul and Devin Booker in the postseason.

That said, if the market for a wing isn't available, Phoenix will likely choose to match whatever contract Ayton gets on the open market and bring him back. The likelihood of them allowing him to walk for nothing is minuscule.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Danny Green isn't sure the Minnesota Timberwolves' Patrick Beverley has a leg to stand on with his criticism of Chris Paul's defense.

Beverley took shots at Paul after the Phoenix Suns were crushed by the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series, saying the 12-time All-Star "literally can't guard."

Green provided his take on those remarks on NBC Sports Philadelphia's Inside the Green Room.

"People target you too, Pat Bev. You ain't playing no f--king defense out there," Green said. "You ain't stopping Luka [Doncic]. It's time and time again I see Luka call your ass 'little man' and 'he's too f--king small' and go right at you every chance he got. When you play Luka you're a cone, too. How would you like that?"

The three-time NBA champion added he believes Beverley took advantage of a situation on national television (the comments came on ESPN's Get Up) to deliver unprovoked jabs at Paul.

"I think [Beverley] just used that platform because he has an issue with Chris, and he used it as a personal vendetta to take out a lot of his anger on the set at that moment," Green said. "I thought it was unfair to Chris, and I'm sure a lot of people felt the same, a lot of guys in the league."

Green's comments didn't go unnoticed by Beverley:

It's a unique situation because all three players (Green, Beverley and Paul) have some defensive accolades on their resume.

Paul is a seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection. He also earned two appearances on the All-Defensive Second Team, but none of those nine honors have come since 2016-17.

Beverley was voted to the first team once and second team twice, and Green also made the second team on one occasion.

Here's how they performed on that end of the floor in 2021-22, per FiveThirtyEight's defensive RAPTOR metric: Beverley (+1.9), Green (+1.3) and Paul (-0.4).

So perhaps the Suns star isn't the defender he was in his prime. That said, it's probably also unfair to expect a shutdown performance from Paul (6'0'', 175 pounds and 37 years old) against Doncic (6'7'', 230 pounds and 23 years old).

One thing's for sure: Paul and Beverley are among the NBA's most fiery competitors, and the comments are going to add ample intrigue to their head-to-head battles next season.

Based on Green's remarks, there may be other players looking to take on Beverley, too.

The Phoenix Suns' season ended in disappointment with Sunday's blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Deandre Ayton's future with the team that drafted him is now coming into question.

"Deandre Ayton did not feel valued by this Phoenix organization," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday. "... [He] is going to get a max contract in the marketplace, somewhere. ... There are a lot of teams lining up to figure out 'how can we acquire him?'"

Phoenix still has some control with the situation since Ayton is scheduled for restricted free agency this offseason. 

That would give the team the right to match any offer he receives, although a max-contract offer would put pressure on the Suns to decide if they want to pay him that much moving forward.

It wouldn't be a new question for the front office to consider.

In October, Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst reported Ayton wanted a max contract of five years and a guaranteed $172.5 million plus possible escalators. However, the two sides were unable to come to an agreement ahead of the deadline at the time with Phoenix never formally offering a max deal.

"The franchise center is unhappy with the franchise's consistent stance to his representatives that the organization simply didn't foresee him as a max player—regardless of which of his peers in the 2018 NBA Draft class earned max deals this offseason," Wojnarowski and Windhorst wrote.

A number of fellow 2018 draftees signed notable rookie extensions, including Luka Doncic and Trae Young:         

Ayton's future is once again a significant topic after he played just 17 minutes and finished with five points and four rebounds in Sunday's 123-90 loss. While the game was a blowout, it didn't stop Suns head coach Monty Williams from playing Devin Booker 37 minutes, Mikal Bridges 33 minutes and Chris Paul 31 minutes.

"It's internal," Williams told reporters when asked about Ayton's playing time after the game.

The big man didn't speak to reporters following the loss.

It is not surprising that other teams are apparently interested considering Ayton is just 23 years old and coming off a season in which he averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game while shooting 63.4 percent from the floor. He is also playoff-tested and helped lead the Suns to the NBA Finals just last season.

Whether he returns could determine Phoenix's ceiling in 2022-23.       

The Phoenix Suns won 64 games in the 2021-22 season and claimed the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs, so it came as a shock when they were eliminated in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks following Sunday's 123-90 Game 7 blowout. 

Well, a major shock to everybody but Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Patrick Beverley, who claimed Monday on ESPN's First Take that the Suns didn't exactly inspire fear around the NBA, even bringing his former teammate Paul George into the fray:

Ain't nobody afraid of anybody over there in Phoenix. Everybody in the league knows that, bro. But y'all don't know that 'cuz y'all not in the locker room. No one's afraid of Phoenix. We wanted them. We [the Timberwolves] wanted them. No one's afraid of Phoenix. I talked to some teammates, I ain't gonna say who—I'm gonna say who, forget it, I talked to Paul George last night—ain't nobody scared of them. But if you face Dallas? You ain't scared of Dallas, but man, you've got to get your game right when you play Luka [Doncic]. I'm just being honest.

Beverley wasn't done there, continuing to go in on Chris Paul:

Suffice to say, Beverley's scalding takes were met with a mixed response on the socials:

Beverley has something of a past with Paul in particular, shoving him in the back in the fourth quarter of last season's Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Suns and Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns blew out Beverley's Clippers in that game, 130-102, and ended the series, with Paul putting 41 points on his former team. 

"We knew we broke them," Jae Crowder told reporters after that game regarding Beverley's cheap shot. "There's no better sign. That's a great feeling to have."

So it's a little possible that Beverley is still stinging from that smackdown and had his revenge on First Take. 

But that's the full Beverley experience. The intensity and chip on his shoulder that has allowed him to carve out an NBA career as a dogged defender also sometimes spills into moments like Monday's slander. 

If nothing else, Beverley showed that he just might have an entertaining second act as a media figure once his playing days are up. He certainly won't pull any punches. 

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Patrick Beverley said "nobody in the NBA" is worried about point guard Chris Paul when opponents play the Phoenix Suns and that the 17-year NBA veteran "literally can't guard."

Beverley made his remarks on ESPN's Get Up Monday:

Ain't nobody worried about Chris Paul when you play the Phoenix Suns, nobody in the NBA. I'm just letting you know how NBA players feel. He's finessed the game to the point where he gets all of the petty calls, all the swipe-throughs at the end.

I mean, we going to be honest? You want me to be really honest? He should've fouled out. He should've fouled out the last game too. You see the replay against [Jalen Brunson], he hit him on the shoulder, hit him on the mouth, ref don't call anything.

If that's me, oh review it, oh flagrant-1! If that's him, they don't call it. So let's not get it twisted. He should've fouled out, he can't guard. He literally can't guard.

Beverley's comments dropped one day after Paul and the Suns were eliminated from the playoffs after a 123-90 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Paul has made nine NBA All-Defensive Teams during his storied career, but the Mavericks' backcourt had his number.

Mavs guards Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson scored 59 points on 23-of-38 shooting Sunday, while Suns starting guards Devin Booker and Paul posted just 21 points on 7-of-22 shooting. The Mavs outscored the Suns by 39 points with Paul on the court.

Even backup Dallas guard Spencer Dinwiddie got in on the act.

Simply put, the Paul that appeared in the regular season, the first-round series against the New Orleans Pelicans and the first two games of the Mavs matchup did not show up for the final playoff performances of the year.

Doncic and Brunson also significantly outplayed Paul and Booker over the course of the seven-game series with their 51.3 points per game compared to 36.8 PPG for the Suns' duo.

For much of this year, the Suns' defense was largely sensational, and Paul certainly played a role en route to Phoenix finished third in defensive rating, per Basketball-Reference.

However, the Mavs proved to be far too strong for the Suns in Game 7, and now, Phoenix's once-promising season has concluded.

Numerous people in the NBA believe it will be "very hard" for Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul to "win at the highest level" because of his size, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Monday's edition of Get Up.

Chris Paul had a world-class clutch season. There are issues with him. His size tends to show up at the end of seasons. There are people in this league who believe that it's going to be very hard for him to win at the highest level because his size is an issue. His stamina throughout games can be an issue as he's gotten older. He definitely has been saving his energy for the end of games and that is something that teams can pick on in playoff settings. But there is no doubt about his greatness as a player and the excellency of this Suns team.

The 6'0", 175-pound Paul just helped lead the Suns to an NBA-best 64-18 regular-season record.

Phoenix won its first-round playoff matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, but its season is now over after a Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals.

The 37-year-old Paul's size didn't appear to be a problem during the regular season, when the 17-year veteran and 12-time All-Star averaged an NBA-high 10.3 assists per game. Nor was it an issue when Paul crushed the Pels to the tune of 22.3 points, 11.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

The Mavs series was a different story. After two dominant opening games, Paul struggled mightily in the final five, averaging 9.4 points, 5.8 assists and 3.6 turnovers per game.

The Suns won only one of those five matchups and trailed by as many as 46 points before their season ended with a 123-90 Game 7 loss on Sunday.

Perhaps Paul's size may have played a factor, but there were plenty of reasons why the Suns lost. Of note, Mavs point guard Luka Doncic (32.6 PPG) was near-unstoppable, Dallas guard Jalen Brunson (18.7 PPG) continued his rise to stardom and Suns center Deandre Ayton played poorly and got benched in Game 7.

Phoenix also has a distinct size and length advantage down low and out-rebounded the Mavs by 54 in this series, but that didn't prevent a Dallas win.

Ultimately, the Suns' season is now over as a postseason that began with championship aspirations ended with just one series win. It's a disappointing performance for the defending Western Conference champions, but this is still a loaded team with Paul and Devin Booker leading the way alongside Coach of the Year Monty Williams.

Phoenix will have to decide what to do with Ayton, a restricted free agent, but the Suns have enough talent to make another run in 2022-23.

Deandre Ayton was conspicuously absent throughout the Phoenix Suns' Game 7 123-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, playing only 17 minutes.

Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Patrick Beverley believes it should've been Chris Paul riding the pine instead.

"First off, I'm going to get a lot for this, but I don't really care. They benched the wrong person. Should've benched [Chris Paul]," Beverley said Monday on Get Up. "And I'm not saying bench him now. Once you see they started attacking Chris early and you know that might become a problem later on, you need to see how the team works without Chris in the game a little bit. I got benched. We won, though, so you don't even remember that. So as a coach, you have to understand, they're attacking my main guy, I can't get buckets from him, I have to make an adjustment, whatever that adjustment is. And that's no fault against Monty [Williams], he's a great coach, Coach of the Year. But [Ty Lue], if T-Lue's there, he's making that decision. It's a hard decision, but he's making it."

Paul finished with 10 points and four assists in the blowout loss. The 37-year-old did not record his first field goal until the third quarter, at which point the Mavericks already had the game well in hand.

Ayton's benching was seemingly a sore spot after the game, with Monty Williams tersely telling reporters "it's internal" when asked why the center spent most of the game on the bench. His 17 minutes played were 10 fewer than any other starter and his lowest of the season not related to an injury.

Ayton did not speak to reporters after the game, marking a bitter end to an otherwise stellar season as he approaches restricted free agency.

As for Paul, his complete implosion over the final five games of this series appears to be somewhat injury-related. Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported Paul is dealing with an undisclosed quad injury. The Suns did not list Paul on any injury report with the quad, and he averaged 32.4 minutes per game for the series, so it's unclear how much he was hampered..

That said, Paul was clearly a diminished player for some reason as the series progressed. The Mavericks regularly hunted him on defense and he became an uncharacteristic turnover machine, coughing the ball up an average of 3.1 times per game for the series. 

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards called the Phoenix Suns' performance against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday a "disgrace" in a since-deleted Instagram video.

The Suns trailed by as many as 46 points before falling 123-90 in Game 7 of their Western Conference Semifinals series to the Mavs.

Dallas point guard Luka Doncic notably had as many points (27) as the entire Suns team at halftime.

Edwards recorded his video of the Suns' downfall with Phoenix trailing 75-36 midway through the third quarter and provided some thoughts as well.

"I remember when we were playing Phoenix, they were talking so much s--t, telling us...we better make the playoffs, we ain't gonna make the playoffs. We outta the playoffs, but y'all, this is a disgrace, bruh. Y'all got like 36 points in the third quarter? This is terrible."

Edwards and the Timberwolves did make the playoffs after qualifying through the play-in tournament. They fought hard in the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies but fell in six games.

Although the Suns entered the matchup off the heels of an ugly 113-86 Game 6 loss, the Game 7 hosts sported a 35-9 record (including playoffs) at Footprint Center and outscored the Mavs by an average of 19.0 points in their three home postseason games.

That track record made no difference Sunday.

Dallas shot 56.8 percent from the field and hit 19-of-39 three-pointers. The Mavs led wire-to-wire and held advantages of 27-17 after one, 57-27 at halftime and 92-50 following the third quarter before pulling the starters.

Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie (30 points) and Jalen Brunson (25) combined for just one fewer point (89) than the Suns.

Meanwhile, Phoenix shot 37.9 percent from the field. Suns shooting guard Devin Booker led all starters with 11 points, and he shot just 3-of-14. Phoenix point guard Chris Paul, who entered the matchup on a three-game scoring slump (8.3 PPG), scored just 10.

It was an ugly performance for the Suns, who sported the NBA's best regular-season record at 64-18. They're now home just like the Timberwolves as the Mavericks advance to the Western Conference Finals to face the Golden State Warriors.

The Phoenix Suns were eliminated from the postseason on Sunday in a blowout 123-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

Now heading into the offseason, Suns center Deandre Ayton is likely set to be the most coveted young player available in free agency. The 23-year-old big man will be a restricted free agent after failing to come to terms on a rookie contract extension prior to the season.

One star player appears to have already expressed interest in adding Ayton to his team. Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard "liked" a tweet suggesting that Ayton take his talents up north:

While it's likely that Phoenix will be looking to retain Ayton, the situation between him and the franchise apparently isn't perfect. Ayton was held to just five points in 17 minutes during Sunday's loss. When asked why the center saw so little playing time, Suns head coach Monty Williams responded, "It's internal."

Lillard was limited to 29 games this season due to abdominal surgery, so he will surely be looking to have a bounce-back year. Adding a player like Ayton would give him a strong running mate to help Portland improve on its 27-55 finish in 2021-22.