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[*Extremely Captain America voice*]
So you didn’t come to terms with your franchise cornerstone.
With the NBA deadline for rookie contract extensions coming and going on Monday afternoon, the Phoenix Suns were unable to reach an agreement with their former No. 1 overall pick, Deandre Ayton. Mikal Bridges earned a four-year, $90 million that represents excellent value in the present and the future, but the Suns were unable to find common ground with their other top-10 pick from the 2018 NBA Draft.
So the question on everybody’s minds is…now what?
First and foremost, no one should be upset the Suns extended Bridges. Since Deandre Ayton’s value was already near the max, Bridges was the only one who had a reasonable chance of outplaying his current value over the upcoming season. DA will still be a max or near-max level player next summer; Phoenix locking up Bridges now, before his value ballooned, was smart no matter what happened with their star center.
From a logistical standpoint, Phoenix’s failure to extend Ayton means the big fella will be a restricted free agent after the 2021-22 season. The good news is, the Suns will have the power to either re-sign him or match any offer sheet he receives from another team, even if it’s a max deal. Other teams will only be able to offer him a four-year, $127.9 million max, while the Suns could offer him a five-year, $172.6 million extension or a four-year, $133.3 million max after this season.
Ayton could also choose to play out the 2022-23 campaign with the Suns on his $16.4 million qualifying offer in order to hit unrestricted free agency in 2023, but he’d be leaving a ton of money on the table by not opting for an extension from someone, so that scenario is highly unlikely. In short, the Suns have the power to retain Ayton unless their relationship sours in a dramatic way over the next year.
The bad news is, the unhappiness over this lack of a new deal may continue to fester if it’s not handled properly. A trade is not out of the question, and even if that doesn’t materialize, there’s a chance we’re right back in an awkward situation next summer, when teams may be hesitant to make a lesser offer the Suns are likely to match and Phoenix decides to use that leverage to play hardball again.
Over the last few weeks, Ayton’s message about his game has gotten louder. At Media Day, he overtly mentioned the sacrifices he made last season for the greater good of the team — something the Suns had been good about bringing up on their own, but something DA rarely called out himself.
“Throughout the playoffs and Finals, eventually I started to realize I was starting to turn a lot of heads from a lot of doubters, and I think it was funny because I sacrificed a lot,” he said. “And I don’t think the world’s really seen my game and the type of window I have to where I already know what the requirement is, it’s just me adding on.”
It was easy to interpret that as a routinely criticized player wanting to prove people wrong, but in the context of ongoing contract negotiations, it also wasn’t hard to read through the agent speak: “Pay me.”
Early on in training camp, he dropped this little nugget too:
“Now that I finally established this big man role that I do not like, I finally took care of areas where I can find my shots in our offense,” he said. “Not really hunting down the shots, but if coach finally put in a play where I can pop out for that 3 and get more comfortable and comfortable as the season goes on.”
The initial reaction might be to fixate on the prospect of a talented youngster finally expanding his range out to 3-point territory, but that “big man role that I do not like” tidbit is concerning. Does Ayton really not like his role as a big man?
“Of course,” he said. “I mean, I don’t like the big man role, but that’s the job at the end of the day. That’s the thing I’m great at. Big man role is just, it’s just the requirements of establishing presence and being able to show my team can rely on me in protecting the rim, communicating and just rebounding, closing out possessions strong.”
And therein lies the cause for alarm. In his mind, Ayton sacrificed for the team in order for the Suns to have success. He embraced a role he doesn’t particularly like, which is not surprising for a guy who said at Media Day that he’s been aching to play the 4 like he did in college. He envisions dual-big lineups with JaVale McGee. He wants to shoot more 3s, get more of his own looks and is even letting the coaches know about what he wants to do.
“I put a lot of work behind it this offseason, man,” he said. “Coaches are talking and I’ve been telling them the things I want to do. That’s a step for me, where I’m telling the coaches what I want to do now: just being more of a threat on this offensive end to help my team win.”
None of that is inherently bad; in a vacuum, it’s exciting to hear Deandre Ayton wanting to do more, taking the initiative with expanding his game and asserting some of his authority as a No. 1 pick. Isn’t that what people have been hoping and waiting for all this time?
But when coupled with those contract talks, and with Bridges seeming like the more likely third option this year, Ayton will now have to walk a fine line between proving the Suns front office wrong and hunting individual stats to the detriment of the team (and possibly his next contract). We haven’t seen his full offensive arsenal yet, but even bearing that in mind, DA isn’t somebody you just feed the ball to and let him go to work for an easy bucket. Aside from a few tantalizing flashes off the dribble during the postseason, his post-up game is mostly limited to over-the-shoulder hooks and face-up jumpers.
Ayton’s greatest value on that end of the floor has been maximizing his role. That word “role” has a negative connotation, but currently, DA is at his best as a strong screen-setter, hard roller, alley-oop threat, elite finisher around the basket and put-back machine on the offensive glass, with an occasional midrange jumper thrown in. He might be ready to do more on offense, but it remains to be seen if it will improve what was already a top-10 offense last year. After being told his sacrifices on a Finals team weren’t good enough for the max, it may be difficult to rein in that desire to prove himself and remain focus on tasks he doesn’t particularly enjoy for the good of the team.
Last week, he mentioned the issue of “respect” and wanting to be paid like his peers.
“I love Phoenix, but I’m really disappointed we haven’t really gotten a deal done yet,” he said. “We were two wins from a championship, and I just really want to be respected, to be honest. To be respected like my peers are being respected by their teams.”
Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all receiving that Designated Rookie Extension made sense, but the minute Michael Porter Jr. got that same five-year max worth up to $207.1 million, Ayton’s people were entitled to accept nothing less. It would’ve been a slight overpay in a vacuum, but the market set his price and the Suns are playing with fire by not rising to meet it.
None of this is to suggest Ayton won’t be a team player in the upcoming season, and if anyone can manage that difficult on-court and off-court balance, it’s head coach Monty Williams. It’s also unfair to saddle him with that responsibility, especially when an extension for Ayton would’ve minimized distractions and ensured that a title contender could stay focused on the ultimate goal with little time left to get Chris Paul a ring.
Now Ayton’s contract situation will be hanging overhead all season. The Suns have the power to keep Ayton in restricted free agency, but that’s not the issue. Letting that discomfort hang in the air all year, letting Ayton remain disgruntled while seeking a larger role, giving Bridges an extension while DA has to wait…those are not always guaranteed issues a team can just overcome. If the Suns continue to win at a high level and DA finds that ideal balance between proving himself and continuing to perform his two-way role at a high level, maybe everyone wins next summer.
For the time being, however, it’s a cloud that will be looming overhead all season. One way or another, Deandre Ayton will remain in Phoenix if the Suns want him around, but the potential repercussions for their title chase in 2022 remain to be seen.
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