Frank Vogel Shares High Hopes For Deandre Ayton
After a whirlwind 2022-23 season, the Phoenix Suns are hoping to go where they have never gone before next season.
They radically remade their roster at midseason when they stunned the NBA by trading for Kevin Durant, and the trade made them the favorites to reach the NBA Finals in the minds of many.
Instead, they fell in six games to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs.
Head coach Monty Williams was fired shortly afterward and was replaced by Frank Vogel, who has a goal of getting center Deandre Ayton to the All-Star Game.
Frank Vogel on Deandre Ayton:
“I think he can be one of the best centers in the league. He’s shown that at times throughout his career. … I’m intent on really connecting with him and restoring him to an All-Star level player.” pic.twitter.com/jsC2wWc34o
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 6, 2023
In five seasons with Phoenix, Ayton has been a good player, and he is a very strong finisher in the paint, but he has never been voted into the league’s midseason classic.
With the team seriously lacking depth and balance following the Durant trade, there have been whispers that perhaps they may look to trade Ayton this summer.
Regardless of what their roster looks like this fall, the Suns are likely looking at a very short window of championship contention.
Durant will turn 35 years of age in late September, and although he is still one of the game’s best players, he has been injury-prone ever since he tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals four years ago.
Meanwhile, point guard Chris Paul is 38 years of age, and he simply isn’t anywhere close to the scoring threat he used to be.
Vogel did win a world title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and is known as a defensive guru, and thus fans are hoping he will transform the defensively challenged Suns into a squad that consistently gets stops.