The Pacers entered unprecedented territory in pursuit of Suns star Deandre Ayton.
Pacers insider James Boyd reacts to the Suns matching Indiana's max offer sheet for Deandre Ayton and keeping the former No. 1 pick in Phoenix.The Pacers entered unprecedented territory Thursday to acquire Suns star and restricted free agent Deandre Ayton, but they weren't able to reel him in.
The Pacers waived second-year guard Duane Washington Jr. and three players -- former IU star Juwan Morgan, Malik Fitts and Nik Stauskas -- who they received from Boston in a trade for Malcolm Brogdon, to create enough cap space for Ayton. Indiana can not reverse its decision to waive those players. “It’s clear that I’m not valued as anything more than a glorified role player here, and I want something more, more opportunity,”“I’m trying really hard to make the role that I’m given here work and find a way to maximize it. I’ve been trying to the past two, three seasons. But it’s clear to me that, just numbers-wise, I’m not valued as more than a rotational role player, and I hold myself in a higher regard than that.
The Pacers created $31.8 million in cap space Thursday for Ayton, and if they're able to offload Turner's base salary of $17.5 million for the 2022-23 season, they'd have even more cap space to use on a longterm rebuild around Haliburton and No. 6 pick Bennedict Mathurin. Haliburton has been labeled a"franchise-caliber point guard" by Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, and Mathurin shined in three Summer League games before being shut down.
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