The Ayton Plan

[Finito]

Jesus. We aren't "defending" Sarver, we are trying to be realistic about the NEGOTIATIONS. Instead of jumping to insane conclusions with little more than a few words from Woj.

Yes, Sarver is not a good owner. Yes, he messed up a lot in the past 20 years. But it has been quite a long time since he's messed up that badly and in fact has made a lot of good moves (like Monty and JJ) recently. That doesn't make him a great owner all of a sudden, but that's not the point. We are discussing why the negotiations are taking so long -- we can all easily say the Suns are incompetent as an organization and move on, but I'm not satisfied with such a defeatist excuse. You don't like it, fine, but attacking (and that is what your sarcastic remarks are) is not the way to advance the conversation. You might well be right about Sarver screwing this up, but I'm not convinced it's a certainty. If anything, my benefit of the doubt is for James Jones, not for Sarver.

What is this victim mentality you have? Dude nobody is “attacking” you.

But it’s not my money right. Just keep saying that to me.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Talk is cheap.

Sarver has already said the Suns will pay the luxury tax. Let's at least wait until Monday to see what happens. I think the Suns will sign Bridges or Ayton (maybe both) to extensions this weekend.

 

[Finito]

Sarver has already said the Suns will pay the luxury tax. Let's at least wait until Monday to see what happens. I think the Suns will sign Bridges or Ayton (maybe both) to extensions this weekend.

God willing

 

[Chaplin]

What is this victim mentality you have? Dude nobody is “attacking” you.

But it’s not my money right. Just keep saying that to me.

It's not your money. Right. So it's pretty easy for you to get on a message board and proclaim the Suns should sign Ayton to any amount he wants. Doesn't affect you none.

 

[Mainstreet]

Talk is cheap.

This is where I put my chips. Tell me about it when it doesn't happen. I'm saying at least one of Ayton or Bridges gets extended by Monday.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

You actually have to have someone worth a max in order to pay it.

We do, and he's not budging yet.

Really, is paying Ayton any more controversial than paying Booker? Before this last season you could come up with plenty of reasons not to pay Booker.

Sarver's mouth wrote some big checks, and with time ticking, whatever "leverage" he hoped to exercise appears to be fading.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

It's not your money. Right. So it's pretty easy for you to get on a message board and proclaim the Suns should sign Ayton to any amount he wants. Doesn't affect you none.

I can assure you paying Ayton anything he wants will affect Bobby none, so you don't have to worry about him!

Fiscal responsibility and championship level teams are oil and water. Ask Ken Kendrick what a great "steward of the game" he is.

 

[Chaplin]

We do, and he's not budging yet.

Really, is paying Ayton any more controversial than paying Booker? Before this last season you could come up with plenty of reasons not to pay Booker.

Sarver's mouth wrote some big checks, and with time ticking, whatever "leverage" he hoped to exercise appears to be fading.

That quote was referring to the 12 years prior to now.

 

[Chaplin]

I can assure you paying Ayton anything he wants will affect Bobby none, so you don't have to worry about him!

Fiscal responsibility and championship level teams are oil and water. Ask Ken Kendrick what a great "steward of the game" he is.

Really? You do know that in the context of the league, Sarver is one of the least wealthy owners in the league -- that's also been one of his problems. 215 million dollars won't affect him? You don't actually believe that do you?

 

[ASUCHRIS]

That quote was referring to the 12 years prior to now.

Yes, and part of the problem was that even mediocre players (Gordon/Aldridge) wouldn't take max money from us because we were terrible.

If we mess things up with Ayton and he leaves it'll be interesting to see the fallout, and when we get another legit max player.

In general, it would be much better if both the Ayton and Bridges situations were resolved before the start of the season, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

From all the good vibes of last year to go into this season with contract issues hanging over is really discouraging.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Really? You do know that in the context of the league, Sarver is one of the least wealthy owners in the league -- that's also been one of his problems. 215 million dollars won't affect him? You don't actually believe that do you?

Sarver has plenty of money, and if needs more investors, they're available. As in Vegas, don't sit at the high stakes tables if you're not carrying big money.

Furthermore, he's acknowledged that he'll have to pay up, and will go into the luxury tax to do so:

"We see ourselves as a taxpayer, and that’s just part of what it’s gonna take to bring home a championship."

Nobody put those words in his mouth.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Aytons not going to leave relax

 

[Chaplin]

Yes, and part of the problem was that even mediocre players (Gordon/Aldridge) wouldn't take max money from us because we were terrible.

If we mess things up with Ayton and he leaves it'll be interesting to see the fallout, and when we get another legit max player.

In general, it would be much better if both the Ayton and Bridges situations were resolved before the start of the season, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

From all the good vibes of last year to go into this season with contract issues hanging over is really discouraging.

Well I also put a lot of the blame on McD and the revolving door of terrible GMs and Coaches Sarver hired. Again, we are not defending Sarver in this thread -- we are trying to reason through the negotiations.

 

[Chaplin]

Sarver has plenty of money, and if needs more investors, they're available. As in Vegas, don't sit at the high stakes tables if you're not carrying big money.

Furthermore, he's acknowledged that he'll have to pay up, and will go into the luxury tax to do so:

"We see ourselves as a taxpayer, and that’s just part of what it’s gonna take to bring home a championship."

Nobody put those words in his mouth.

Again, that goes back to "it's not my money, so spend as much as possible". Running an NBA team is expensive We've seen what Sarver does when he just spends with no leash. Now you want him to do that again after we all complained about it before?

 

[AzStevenCal]

This is where I put my chips. Tell me about it when it doesn't happen. I'm saying at least one of Ayton or Bridges gets extended by Monday.

I sure hope you're right. We could sign both, sign neither or sign just one of them and it wouldn't surprise me. A week ago I still liked our chances of signing both but as the deadline nears my confidence dwindles.

 

[Mainstreet]

I sure hope you're right. We could sign both, sign neither or sign just one of them and it wouldn't surprise me. A week ago I still liked our chances of signing both but as the deadline nears my confidence dwindles.

I think extensions get done for at least one of Ayton or Bridges by Monday but I will only go so far as predicting one.

However, I still believe both will get done as I think we are only waiting on Ayton.

DON"T LET ME BE WRONG.

 

[1Sun]

Really? You do know that in the context of the league, Sarver is one of the least wealthy owners in the league -- that's also been one of his problems. 215 million dollars won't affect him? You don't actually believe that do you?

With the team this close to a championship, it's put up or shut up time. If Sarver is so strapped for cash that he is balking at paying what it takes to keep a contending roster together, he should sell the team to someone who can afford to pay what it takes to win in the NBA.

You get what you pay for.

 

[Covert Rain]

Like a professional who respects players and excels at building at group mentality amongst players while avoiding any sort of fake sounding corporate BS that alienates players.

This.

 

[Yuma]

Aytons not going to leave relax

I am not convinced of that.

 

[Covert Rain]

Sarver mostly let Ryan McDonough have full control as GM and that didn't turn out so well.

There are only so many good GM's in the league. If you hire a basketball guy and it doesn't work out I am less upset about that than hiring non-basketball (agents) to help run your FO and hires like that. So the fact that a GM doesn't work out is hardly proof he shouldn't let basketball guys run his ORG and step back.

 

[Mainstreet]

There are only so many good GM's in the league. If you hire a basketball guy and it doesn't work out I am less upset about that than hiring non-basketball (agents) to help run your FO and hires like that. So the fact that a GM doesn't work out is hardly proof he shouldn't let basketball guys run his ORG and step back.

I was pointing out that Sarver has previously given a GM (Ryan McDonough) a lot of autonomy running the team.

He is doing much the same with James Jones.

In regard to part in bold, I take it you are referring to Lon Babby (formerly a player agent) who was the Suns President of Basketball Operations.

 

[GatorAZ]

If DA declines, let’s say, a 5-year/$150m deal then props to him. Even though the Suns or a restricted team will pay him eventually that’s a lot of coin to turn down regardless of principle. There’s always injuries or other weird things that can go down. If DA makes all-NBA or all-defense he’s in line for the rookie Superbad.

 

[Mainstreet]

If DA declines, let’s say, a 5-year/$150m deal then props to him. Even though the Suns or a restricted team will pay him eventually that’s a lot of coin to turn down regardless of principle. There’s always injuries or other weird things that can go down. If DA makes all-NBA or all-defense he’s in line for the rookie Superbad.

My guess the Suns offer the above money and more but it's not all guaranteed much like Michael Porter Jr.

 

[Hoop Head]

Ayton ranked #6 in a list of the best Centers in the league headed into next season according to Hoops Hype. He's behind

5. Bam Adebayo
4. Karl Anthony Towns
3. Rudy Honest
2. Joel Embiid
1. Nikola Jokic

Here's the writeup on Ayton....

2020-21 stats: 14.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 bpg, 62.6 FG%

Although his raw statistics went down in 2020-21, his third-year campaign, the advanced metrics paint a different story, one that tells us it was actually the most impactful season of Deandre Ayton's young career. Ayton posted career-best marks in VORP, BPM, WS/48 and Win Shares last season, playing a major part for a Phoenix Suns team that reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009-10 and the NBA Finals for the first time since 1992-93. Synergy Sports rated Ayton as an "excellent" offensive player last season, one who produced 1.158 PPP on all play types and sat in the NBA's 94th percentile as a scorer. Ayton struggled on post-ups, which is obvious for anyone who watched a lot of Suns games last season, scoring just 0.936 PPP on that play type, per Synergy Sports, but he was absolutely dominant out of the pick-and-roll. Thanks in part to both Chris Paul and Devin Booker's playmaking, Ayton scored 1.386 PPP as the roll man last season, the second-best mark in the NBA for players with at least 100 such opportunities, trailing just Harrell. And although Paul and Booker do deserve some of the credit for that absurdly healthy rate, Ayton warrants even more, as his hands, length and explosive leaping ability have made him a terror on dives to the rim. Ayton also has a tidy short mid-range jumper he likes to use on occasion, as well as a defensive presence that made the Suns a very tough team to score on in 2020-21. Phoenix ranked sixth in the NBA in defensive efficiency last season, allowing 110.4 points per 100 possessions (crazy that that's what qualifies as a borderline-elite defense these days, but we digress), and Ayton's impact on that mark cannot be overstated. The 23-year-old uses his elite length and timing as a rim protector to intimidate foes attacking the paint, and possesses the foot quickness to not get totally exposed when forced to switch. All in all, despite his raw averages going down, Ayton was more focused than ever last season, and the results were hugely positive for the Suns. Next campaign should be even better for the still-developing almost-7-footer.

 

[Hoop Head]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere else so I thought I'd share that Ayton is meeting with Sarver over the contract holdup. The report is dated yesterday so I might have missed it.

Deandre Ayton meets with Suns owner amid contract feud

DeAndre Ayton and Suns owner Robert Sarver have met this week amid an ugly contract feud — grabbing a drink together at a fancy spot in Arizona … TMZ Sports has learned. We’ve obt…

hoopshype.com