{"id":135640,"date":"2025-06-30T03:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T03:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/135640\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T03:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T03:25:12","slug":"deandre-ayton-finalizing-buyout-with-trail-blazers-set-to-become-free-agent-per-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/135640\/","title":{"rendered":"Deandre Ayton finalizing buyout with Trail Blazers, set to become free agent, per report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ayton-getty.png\"<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

Deandre Ayton<\/a> and the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> are finalizing a buyout that will make the center a free agent, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ayton, who turns 27 next month, arrived in Portland from the Phoenix Suns<\/a> in 2023 as part of the three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard<\/a> to the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>. In two seasons with the Trail Blazers, Ayton averaged 15.7 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 56.9%. He played in only 40 games last season and 55 the year before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ayton was entering the final season of a four-year, $133 million pact he had signed in Phoenix and was set to make $35.6 million next year. However, the Trail Blazers have a plethora of other, young big men, headlined by 2025 first-round pick Yang Hansen<\/a> and 2024 first-round pick Donovan Clingan<\/a>, who was a second-team All-Rookie selection despite splitting time with Ayton and others last season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What if LeBron James went home to the Cavaliers? Why a Cleveland trade could actually make sense for everyone<\/p>\n

\n Sam Quinn <\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nAyton will be\u00a0coveted on free agent market<\/p>\n

Ayton, meanwhile, instantly becomes a sought-after free agent, especially considering he can sign with any team because “the waiver restriction for second apron teams only applies during the regular season,” per ESPN’s Bobby Marks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, hasn’t quite lived up to that billing, he has been productive in both Phoenix and Portland, averaging a double-double in each of his seven seasons. He looked to be a key part of the Suns’ plans in 2020-21 when they made the NBA<\/a> Finals, but things quickly fell apart in Phoenix, and he was deemed expendable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Portland has now landed on the same decision, too. Thanks to Ayton’s age, productivity and talent — there is no denying that third part, either, even if he’s inconsistent and his play style is sometimes frustrating — he will attract plenty of suitors as free agency begins Monday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Images Deandre Ayton and the Portland Trail Blazers are finalizing a buyout that will make the center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,1586,974,6,687,471,3967,1617,1309],"class_list":{"0":"post-135640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-portland-trail-blazers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-blazers","10":"tag-deandre-ayton","11":"tag-donovan-clingan","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-portland","14":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","15":"tag-portlandtrailblazers","16":"tag-trail-blazers","17":"tag-yang-hansen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114770183824368204","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}