NBA: Ranking the top 15 free agents and predicting where they’ll land

7. Deandre Ayton, restricted

The Deandre Ayton situation is certainly something to keep an eye on and, quite frankly, I don’t really have a grasp on how it will all unfold. However, there should be plenty of teams interested in potentially prying Ayton away from the Phoenix Suns.

And there’s no evidence that the Suns would fight all that hard. If they valued Ayton as many believe that they should, he would have a contract extension already. Instead, he’s projected to hit restricted free agency in a few days.

One potential landing spot is the Atlanta Hawks and they could try and pull off a trade that includes John Collins, who would be a great fit for Phoenix’s high-powered offense. Ayton gets his money and a new home, while the Hawks and Collins are able to move on from each other.

Prediction: Atlanta Hawks