Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton faces a 25-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports. The second-year center tested positive for a diuretic.
According to Wojnarowski, the player’s association is already prepping an arbitration case to reduce or rescind the suspension, believing that the banned substance would fall under the provision of “unintentional ingestion”.
The union is likely to fast-track the arbitration process in order to reduce the penalty as soon as possible.
Ayton isn’t the first player to face a lengthy suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. In the offseason it was revealed that Wilson Chandler, too, had tested positive for a forbidden substance.
Ayton will continue to eat up a roster spot for the first five games of whatever his suspension ends up being, at which point the Suns will have the option to move him to their Suspended List and free up a spot for an additional player.
