In this trip to the finals, in addition to the outstanding performances of Paul and Booker on the offensive end, Ayton 's performance on both offense and defense is also the key to the Suns' ability to reach the finals...
21 During the playoffs, Ayton averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, shooting 65.8% from the field; and was often able to score points efficiently and steadily when the team needed him to score. Coupled with his interior defensive ability, he has greatly improved the team's defensive depth.
An insider like Ayton has certain scoring ability and good defensive ability, plus he is in his early 20s. I thought he would get an early contract extension in the 2021 offseason - after all, in the same class as him, Doncic (5 years, 207 million), Trae Young, (5 years, 171 million), Porter Jr. (172 million in 5 years), Alexander (172 million in 5 years), and others have already received maximum salary contracts.
Unexpectedly, the Suns did not renew Ayton's contract in advance in the summer of 2021. Even after the start of the 21-22 season, no matter how outstanding Ayton's personal performance was, no matter how important Ayton was to the team, the Suns never gave him a contract extension. He offered an "ideal" five-year maximum salary contract...
The Suns were unwilling to directly offer an "ideal" maximum salary contract, and Ayton was unwilling to accept an ordinary maximum salary contract, or much less than A "qualification quote" of your own worth. Therefore, while insisting on asking for a five-year maximum salary contract while "beating it to death" and unwilling to give it, the outside world believed that it was almost destined that the Suns and Ayton would "break up" during this offseason.
Especially after the free market started this year, the Suns management seems to have been ignoring Ayton. Unexpectedly, after the Pacers offered a four-year US$133 million contract, the Suns management did not hesitate to match the contract...
When the Suns management decisively matched the four-year US$133 million contract, no Only then did a few people realize that the Suns had always wanted to keep Ayton. But why have they been unwilling to directly offer a five-year maximum salary, but have been hesitant and "big up" Ayton's mentality?
You must know that once Ayton becomes dissatisfied, even if the Suns use a big contract to keep him, he may not work hard in the future. If this is the case, even if the Suns keep him, he can only be used as a bargaining chip in the transaction. He will not be able to become the core of the Suns' future team building...
So, if they clearly want to keep Ayton, why are the Suns unwilling to directly offer him a five-year contract? Maximum salary?
1, Although Ayton's personal defense is strong, he is not at the DPOY level. In the 19-20 season, Gobert averaged 15.1 points, 13.5 rebounds and a 69.3% field goal percentage per game. In fact, regardless of the data or actual performance on the field, Gobert's offensive performance is far from the league's top level.
But after the end of this season, Gobert received a five-year, 205 million contract extension in advance. In fact, the reason why Gobert was able to get the maximum salary extension in advance was not because of his offensive ability, but because of the defensive dominance he showed.
17-18 and 18-19 seasons, Gobert won the "Best Defensive Player" honor for two consecutive seasons with his 2.16-meter height + 2.35-meter wingspan + top defensive awareness. Although Ayton's defensive ability shown in recent years is not bad, he has not yet reached the DPOY level.
2 and lack independent offensive capabilities and are difficult to evolve into super centers. When Ayton cannot play DPOY-level defense like Gobert, he has to rely on his other abilities (especially the offensive end) if he wants to get the maximum salary.In the four seasons since
entered the league, Ayton's offensive performance has been "only" - 6.3 points +58.5% shooting rate, 18.2 points +54.6% shooting rate, 14.4 points +62.6% shooting rate, 17.2 points +63.4 % hit rate. Although he has been in the league for four seasons, Ayton's scoring average has not changed much.
However, in the past two seasons, Ayton's overall shooting percentage has indeed improved. Unfortunately, most of the "credit" has been attributed to Paul. After all, the arrival of Paul, the top point guard, does give Ayton more opportunities to "eat the pie in open positions".
The arrival of Paul, although on the surface it has improved Ayton's offensive efficiency a lot, it actually makes him play more "blue collar". Compared with MVP-level centers such as Jokic and Embiid, Ayton lacks the ability to attack independently.
If in the first four seasons of his career, Ayton can show a certain degree of independent offensive ability and the potential to grow into a 25+10 super insider, in fact, even if his defense is average, he can easily get the ideal five-year maximum salary contract.
3, Regarding Ayton’s new contract, the Suns management has the initiative. When there was still one year left on his contract in the offseason last year, the Suns were unwilling to renew Ayton in advance; even when Ayton's contract expired this offseason, the Suns were in no rush to renew Ayton.
The reason why the Suns can be so "calm" is mainly because they have "understood" Ayton. Although the Suns management did not provide Ayton with a maximum salary contract early this offseason, they did provide a 1640 The "qualifying offer" of 10,000 US dollars makes him a restricted free agent of and .
This is also the reason why the Suns have always been unwilling to provide Ayton with a five-year maximum salary contract. After all, other teams in the league can only provide Ayton with a four-year maximum salary contract at most. If a team offers Ayton a maximum salary contract this offseason, the Suns will directly match and force Ayton to stay.
The worst-case scenario is just a four-year maximum salary contract. If Ayton's "requirements" are met, the Suns need to provide a five-year maximum salary contract with a higher average annual salary. If no one cares about Ayton this summer, then the Suns will have more room to lower the price. At that time, Ayton may not even be able to get a four-year, US$133 million contract.
To sum up, since Ayton has neither DPOY-level defense nor the league's top offensive ability, the Suns management is actually unwilling to provide him with a five-year maximum salary. In addition, it has Ayton's priority renewal rights, so the Suns management dares to lower the price like this...
