It Would Appear That Deandre Ayton And Monty Williams Still Hate Each Other's Guts

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The Suns are in a bit of a weird place. They're still very good, they have a good roster with a good head coach and now get to add all the excitement you get when a new owner comes in. Despite all that, something feels a little "off" when you watch them play. Chris Paul missing time is a factor for sure, but after a brutal home loss to the Wizards last night the Suns sit in the 4th spot in the West and are 4-6 over their last 10. For a team over the last two years that basically only had 1 or 2 losses a month, things haven't exactly been smooth sailing.

We saw potential for this back before the season started when it came to Deandre Ayton and his relationship with the franchise and its head coach. They were basically forced into offering him that max extension so he wouldn't go to the Pacers and the Suns would be left losing an asset for nothing. There was the whole drama between Ayton and Monty Williams after their Game 7 incident last Spring

and the thinking was probably once the season starts that things would get squashed. That Ayton would be able to prove himself to Monty based on what he did on the floor.

Well, fast forward 32 games and let's check in on how that relationship is going

Now moments like this aren't exactly rare on an NBA bench. Especially in a game you're losing to the Wizards. That would stress anybody out to be honest. Of course after the loss both Ayton and Williams denied anything was wrong or that there was an issue, but what do you expect them to say? Come out and tell the media after a bad loss that they still hate each other? No chance. But as they say, where there's smoke there's usually fire and when two guys clearly have a history with that sort of thing, I don't think you can completely rule it out.

Ayton's season so far has essentially been more of the same compared to what we've had in previous years. A solid 17/9.7/2 on 62/33% isn't too shabby for a 24 year old. The efficiency is down a little bit, but I imagine not playing with Chris Paul for a long stretch probably has something to do with it. I'm not sure if he's accomplishing what he mentioned before the season in terms of proving Monty Williams wrong, which brings me to my next question.

If the Suns flame out this year, does new ownership decide to be a year early rather than a year late when it comes to re-tooling the roster? They have CP3 for one more guaranteed year and then a non guaranteed $30M in 2024-25 when he's 39. Now that Ayton is signed long term, I think that actually helps his trade market since a team would not have to worry about him bolting should they move assets for him. Is it crazy to think they might try and move someone like Ayton for a more complimentary return so they can get the most out of Paul's final year? Especially if things still aren't working between him and Monty and the team didn't even really want to keep Ayton in the first place. It might be a stretch, but it's certainly possible. Or, do they go the other way and potentially move an older CP3? 

With all this stuff, it all comes back to winning. When you're winning, these dust ups are no big deal, there's no drama or "sources" or any of that shit. When you don't, then you start to hear it. Just ask the Chicago Bulls right now. It's early enough in the season to not panic when it comes to the Suns or anything like that, but their situation is definitely worth monitoring. If they continue to struggle or underachieve this is only going to become more of a story. They've invested a shit ton of money in the Paul/Booker/Bridges/Ayton core, but in a what have you done for me lately league, who knows how long it'll last.