Beijing time on July 15th, the NBA trading market is in full swing. All teams in the league are preparing intensively, striving to help the team complete the victory and reinforcement of the lineup this summer, so as to help the team get better results in the new season. The performance attracted the attention of tens of thousands of fans. At the same time, other developments in the trading market are equally attractive and worth a look.
After many days, the farce between No. 1 pick Ayton and his old club Suns finally came to an end. The latter matched other teams' offers for Ayton, and the two parties officially completed the contract extension. Talking about the contract renewal process between the two parties is undoubtedly heartbreaking. In order not to give Ayton a maximum salary contract, the Suns rejected Ayton's maximum salary request from the beginning, believing that he had not grown into a maximum salary player, and ultimately only gave Ayton a qualifying offer. Obviously, the Suns management looks down on Ayton's on-court strength, which makes the other team very dissatisfied, but other teams don't think so. They are willing to trade for Ayton and provide him with a maximum salary contract. After bargaining again and again, the Pacers were the first to offer Ayton a contract, but the contract was matched by the Suns, which meant that Ayton still had to stay with the Suns.
According to insiders, the Pacers have provided Ayton with a four-year, $133 million invitation contract. If the Suns do not match, they will get Ayton through a trade. However, the Suns decided to match the opponent's contract a few minutes later and gave Ayton a four-year, $133 million contract extension, and the farce ended. It is worth noting that the four-year, US$133 million invitation contract between Ayton and the Pacers set a new NBA historical record, surpassing Otto Porter and becoming the largest invitation contract in NBA history. In the 2017 season, Porter signed a four-year invitation contract worth 107 million US dollars with Nets , which became a historical record at the time, but in the end Wizards chose to match.
In addition, this wave of operations by the Suns can be described as a failure, with one gain and one loss. After completing Ayton's contract extension, the Suns will have to pay at least $15 million more in luxury tax in the new season. But at the same time, they have saved a lot of money after this series of operations. First of all, if they renew Ayton's contract for US$179 million in five years, they will spend an additional US$46 million. Second, the Suns saved $4.5 million by matching other teams' offers. Because according to the league's regulations, the Suns' contract extension is an 8% increase in the first year, and other teams are 5%, so the Suns save a 3% price difference. Of course, although the Suns' approach saved the team a lot of salary, it broke the core of the team.
Last season, the 24-year-old Ayton averaged 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and a shooting percentage of 63.4%. Together with Paul and Booker , he helped the team achieve the best record in the league.
