The Ayton Plan

[JerkFace]

Last year during the playoffs a friend offered me a scenario: would I rather the Suns won the championship but Sarver remained the owner for the next 15 years, or we lost the championship but Sarver sold the team in the offseason. I easily chose losing the championship and Sarver selling the team.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns have Deandre Ayton under contract for the 2021-22 season.

The Suns can match any offer when he becomes a RFA after the season.

If Ayton refuses to accept a sign-and-trade he can play out his final year under contract with the Suns for the qualifying offer of $16,422,835 and then become an unrestricted free agent after the 2022-23 season.

The Suns will want to retain his rights by making the qualifying offer.

Of course if Ayton plays well this coming season they will wanrt to keep him.

 

[cheesebeef]

Think about what some of you guys are saying for a second, because it really boils down to this:

“If Ayton plays to the level of an ALL-NBA player, then we’d have to pay him like he’s one!”

That’s the way it SHOULD be. Most of you DONT think he’ll reach that level which means he wouldn’t even hit the escalators that have been thrown around... and thrown around I might add with literally nothing from any source to back up.

I really think this is a terrible decision. In the NBA you have to pay your talent, especially WHEN YOU ARR CONTENDING FOR A TITLE. Will you have to overpay someone? Probably, but even if we had to overpay Ayton because he met escalators, that would mean he achieved a level that would net him those anyway.

 

[cheesebeef]

The Suns have Deandre Ayton under contract for the 2021-22 season.

The Suns can match any offer when he becomes a RFA after the season.

If Ayton refuses to accept a sign and trade he can play out his final year under contract with the Suns for the qualifying offer of $16,422,835 and then become a free agent after the 2022-23 season.

The Suns will want to retain his rights by making the qualifying offer.

This is what I fear happening. 16 million is still a ton of money and we’ve seen guys sign MASSIVE contracts even in Contract years where they’ve blown their ACL or suffered another debilitating injury for a season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

because that's just the way the NBA is. I find it troubling that a guy we... forget it. this is pointless.

this isn't just a bad look for the team. This could lead to a trade one day being forced from a very disgruntled player. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention to the NBA.

To be clear, I haven't been advocating for the team to not sign him, I'm just pointing out that there is reason for concern in the front office. But I agree, not reaching a deal, whoever is at fault, is a big problem for us. I'm not much bothered by the bad optics but I am disappointed that we will probably need to search for a new center in the next couple of years.

There's a chance that Ayton will raise his game and we'll sign him to a max deal, maybe even a super max at the end of this season. Obviously that's our best outcome now.

I seriously doubt that he'll play his 5th season and exit as an unrestricted free agent but now we have to worry about him taking a 4 year offer from someone else (or worse, a 3 year offer), that we will have to match to keep from losing him for nothing. And if we didn't already have a disgruntled player, we'd surely have one thern.

 

[Rab]

This is a bad look for the Suns. They did a lot right over the past year but this is a glaring L for Sarver. I say Sarver because I given history I have to assume he was the final say on the matter.

Why take a chance on creating a rift with your core players? Especially after a decade of purgatory and bad PR. This was a great chance to capitalize on some positive momentum and help restore lost credibility within the league.

Pretty bummed about this and it takes a little of the excitement out of the start of the season knowing this will be lingering.

 

[AzStevenCal]

So, maybe the new Ayton plan is to trade him? Anyone for an Evan Mobley or someone like him?

 

[Mainstreet]

This is what I fear happening. 16 million is still a ton of money and we’ve seen guys sign MASSIVE contracts even in Contract years where they’ve blown their ACL or suffered another debilitating injury for a season.

I seriously doubt Ayton would risk playing for the qualifying offer of $16 million and become a free agent.

Most likely if he wants out he will accept a sign-and-trade after the season or the Suns decide to trade him this season but it's hard to bring a comparable player back on his current salary.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

because that's just the way the NBA is. I find it troubling that a guy we... forget it. this is pointless.

this isn't just a bad look for the team. This could lead to a trade one day being forced from a very disgruntled player. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention to the NBA.

Respect matters, and DA has been disrespected. It could be motivating, but it could backfire, and for what benefit?

 

[Proximo]

I'm hoping a deal gets done with Ayton. I wanted both Bridges and Ayton extended. My posts will reflect that.

Let me ask a couple of questions though. Based on the stats below, is anyone absolutely sure Ayton is a $172 or a $207 million player?

Also is it fair to see how he plays one more season before he hits RFA?

Deandre Ayton Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

Deandre Ayton - Career stats, game logs, biographical info, awards, and achievements for the NBA and NCAA.

www.basketball-reference.com

Is $172-207 million going to be a good investment on his level of play? Nobody truthfully knows.

Is he going to get a max offer from another team even if he has a bad season this year - YES.

 

[Proximo]

Respect matters, and DA has been disrespected. It could be motivating, but it could backfire, and for what benefit?

There probably is no benefit - but at this point the damage is already done.

 

[Proximo]

If they did, they should have traded him earlier in the offseason before the impasse became public and they lost all of their leverage.

Why do you keep acting like the Suns have no choice other than to trade him. That is BS. He wants to be on this team.

He will gladly sign a max extension at the end of the season and remain a Sun.

 

[Mainstreet]

Is $172-207 million going to be a good investment on his level of play? Nobody truthfully knows.

Is he going to get a max offer from another team even if he has a bad season this year - YES.

So if Ayton does not improve, the Suns may decide do a sign-and-trade.

 

[Proximo]

This is what I fear happening. 16 million is still a ton of money and we’ve seen guys sign MASSIVE contracts even in Contract years where they’ve blown their ACL or suffered another debilitating injury for a season.

Signing with anyone other than the Suns will cost Ayton a lot of money. He does not want to leave Phoenix. He wanted to be drafted here and he wants to stay here and said so last week.

Has Sarver been stupid not just paying up now - yes.

Is it really going to change our chances of resigning Ayton, I really doubt it.

 

[Mainstreet]

Here is a link to the ESPN story with video.

Sources: Suns' talks with Ayton end without deal

Negotiations between the Phoenix Suns and star Deandre Ayton on an extension to his rookie contract have ended without a deal, sources told ESPN on Monday.

www.espn.com