Deandre Ayton news and discussion

[Revived]

He will not get a max contract the way he is playing but I think he will get a nice long term offer from us next summer. Hopefully we can extend him.

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

$56M/4 years (or $70M/5) would be an absolute steal for his production, I do not think he accepts a low offer like that.

He is already a better C than Valanciunas, Myles Turner and Steven Adams and all of them are getting between $15M and $20M per year.

Personally I would offer him $100M/5 years.

That would be way less than the max and a valuable contract for years to come taking into account his age/upside.

We will see, it will be pretty important his play for the rest of the season and if we finally will go to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

He’s only worth whatever the market is willing to pay for him. It’s kinda like all our salaries either, mine and your employer’s goal isn’t to pay us whatever we like, it’s to pay us whatever another company would pay.

Same thing in the NBA. If Ayton doesn’t have a market then who are the Suns competing with to sign him? For example, with Booker if we didn’t re-sign him to the max then Mavs, Knicks, Lakers etc would’ve signed him to a max offer sheet in RFA and forced us to match that.

Which team is gonna do that with Ayton? Not many, if any, will be willing to go over $14M imo.

Opposing team analysts, reporters, fans and hell even our own analysts and fans haven’t been all that thoroughly impressed with Ayton in his 3 years here even despite his #s being very nice.

This was written in the local Arizona Sports news article from just 3 days ago.

Ayton’s perplexing play reached a boiling point in the fourth quarter. Possessions that include Ayton showing bad hands, missing bunnies or getting lost defensively off the ball outside of pick-and-roll coverage have trended back upward in his third season. That’s after he got better at that stuff throughout his rookie season.

https://arizonasports.com/story/2533976/suns-defend-well-grind-against-celtics-to-5th-win-in-6-games/

Again, I just think when it comes to Ayton we should let the market dictate his contract. I want to see a team step up and sign him to an offer sheet. This isn’t something brand new it gets done all the time and Ayton is the type of player that we should use this option on imo.

[Mulhollanddrive]

I think we'll offer 100/4 but Ayton's goal seems to be the max extension and he cited Griffin & Jordan getting it as facts.

I'm actually curious about how Ayton plays next season fully motivated possibly with his dream goal up for grabs no second chances.

[Revived]

He will not get a max contract the way he is playing but I think he will get a nice long term offer from us next summer. Hopefully we can extend him.

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

I wonder what his reaction will be when Bridges lands a larger contract than he does. I think it won't really change him - he will be the same person, will have the same personality, and he will be happy that he reached his goal, plus his earnings will be well over 100 mio by then. Ofcourse he could get mad and come out with a vengance, but that is not him. He could also just relax that he got the bag secured, or pout a bit that he should be paid more - these look more possible with his mindset. But I'd think he'll just be the same guy.

I’m definitely in the minority here but I’ve said this before, I think Ayton is the type that will relax and be content after signing his next deal. I’d wager that he comes into the next season after signing his deal being very out of shape and would have to work his way back into being shape during the season. Don’t think he will be working very hard on improving his skillset all that much after getting paid either. His personality and quotes basically say it for me.

We have to re-sign him though or trade him for someone else that can be an inside presence for us. Probably re-signing him is the way to go because it’s gonna look embarrassing to not re-sign our #1 overall pick with guys drafted after him like Trae, Luka, SGA etc re-signing with their teams.

Yeah I don’t know how he’ll react to Bridges signing a bigger deal than him. But it should be obvious to him that Bridges skillset is way more valuable in the perimeter oriented NBA than his. It’s not just Bridges, his fellow draft mates Luka, Trae and SGA will all get bigger deals than him as their easy max guys. Then there’s Sexton (and maybe JJJ?) who may get more than him as well. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to it.

[lilfishi22]

I agree. I don't see Ayton having especially high aspirations as a player. He might say all the right things about wanting to be the best etc but deep down I feel like he thinks he's lucky to be in his position and to be earning whatever 8 figure second contract he gets offered

[Bogyo]

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

I wonder what his reaction will be when Bridges lands a larger contract than he does. I think it won't really change him - he will be the same person, will have the same personality, and he will be happy that he reached his goal, plus his earnings will be well over 100 mio by then. Ofcourse he could get mad and come out with a vengance, but that is not him. He could also just relax that he got the bag secured, or pout a bit that he should be paid more - these look more possible with his mindset. But I'd think he'll just be the same guy.

I’m definitely in the minority here but I’ve said this before, I think Ayton is the type that will relax and be content after signing his next deal. I’d wager that he comes into the next season after signing his deal being very out of shape and would have to work his way back into being shape during the season. Don’t think he will be working very hard on improving his skillset all that much after getting paid either. His personality and quotes basically say it for me.

We have to re-sign him though or trade him for someone else that can be an inside presence for us. Probably re-signing him is the way to go because it’s gonna look embarrassing to not re-sign our #1 overall pick with guys drafted after him like Trae, Luka, SGA etc re-signing with their teams.

Yeah I don’t know how he’ll react to Bridges signing a bigger deal than him. But it should be obvious to him that Bridges skillset is way more valuable in the perimeter oriented NBA than his. It’s not just Bridges, his fellow draft mates Luka, Trae and SGA will all get bigger deals than him as their easy max guys. Then there’s Sexton (and maybe JJJ?) who may get more than him as well. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to it.

I don't think you are in the minority. Lot's of old(er) geezers on the forum like me who have been following the Suns and the league for 10-20-30+ years, so we've seen it all, and Ayton's "archeotype" is nothing new. Joe Barely Cares comes to mind, and some other dudes who had all the talent in the world and were just not smart enough, had no desire, or anything in between.

The question is, if this is our baseline, how much do we want to pay for said player, and are we happy with the 16/12 he puts up in his sleep with OK overall D, or not? He might never "wake up" after getting the 2nd bag, at least the chance is there for this, unlike with players who actually care about the game.

[Saberestar]

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

$56M/4 years (or $70M/5) would be an absolute steal for his production, I do not think he accepts a low offer like that.

He is already a better C than Valanciunas, Myles Turner and Steven Adams and all of them are getting between $15M and $20M per year.

Personally I would offer him $100M/5 years.

That would be way less than the max and a valuable contract for years to come taking into account his age/upside.

We will see, it will be pretty important his play for the rest of the season and if we finally will go to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

He’s only worth whatever the market is willing to pay for him. It’s kinda like all our salaries either, mine and your employer’s goal isn’t to pay us whatever we like, it’s to pay us whatever another company would pay.

Same thing in the NBA. If Ayton doesn’t have a market then who are the Suns competing with to sign him? For example, with Booker if we didn’t re-sign him to the max then Mavs, Knicks, Lakers etc would’ve signed him to a max offer sheet in RFA and forced us to match that.

Which team is gonna do that with Ayton? Not many, if any, will be willing to go over $14M imo.

Opposing team analysts, reporters, fans and hell even our own analysts and fans haven’t been all that thoroughly impressed with Ayton in his 3 years here even despite his #s being very nice.

This was written in the local Arizona Sports news article from just 3 days ago.

Ayton’s perplexing play reached a boiling point in the fourth quarter. Possessions that include Ayton showing bad hands, missing bunnies or getting lost defensively off the ball outside of pick-and-roll coverage have trended back upward in his third season. That’s after he got better at that stuff throughout his rookie season.

https://arizonasports.com/story/2533976/suns-defend-well-grind-against-celtics-to-5th-win-in-6-games/

Again, I just think when it comes to Ayton we should let the market dictate his contract. I want to see a team step up and sign him to an offer sheet. This isn’t something brand new it gets done all the time and Ayton is the type of player that we should use this option on imo.

Do you think seriously that there will not be any team in the league willing to sign Ayton to a contract over $14M per year? $14M per year?

I mean... Steven freaking Adams is getting $27M this season and signed this offseason an extension for another $17.5M per year the next couple of seasons.

The league is valuing big guys a bit more this season and teams are playing frontcourt players more minutes this season. That's why Monty Williams needed to start Kaminsky next to Ayton. A player like Ayton at C would be well received by most teams in the league.

Ayton committed some mistakes against the Celtics the other day, but we won and he was a big factor in that game. Ask to Celtics fans about who would they prefer at C for them...Tristan Thompson/Theis/Robert Williams or Ayton at $15M per year. I am sure about their answer.

[Frank Lee]

He’ll get paid... no need to worry about how much or by whom. He’s a tremendous asset and if he gets his head straight, could be a long time sun. If not, he’ll be swapped out for another asset.

My gripes are based on the CP timeline. We have this and next yr to make a significant jump. Signing Paul was an all in move. Ayton needs to ball up to the level that puts us into contention. He’s an important part. This yr sets up next yr. it’s good he is getting some heat about his vaginal instincts. He’s was the #1 pick...no more excuses. No more ‘potential’. But he’s still taking baby steps while we need one giant leap for Sun-kind

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Personally, I hope Ayton spends at least a decade in a Suns uni. Sure, I'd like him to be more aggressive and improve his skill level on offense, but who do I want defending Jokic? Deandre, for sure.

... Of course, I guess you'd rather have Jokic.

The Towns/Ayton debate is an interesting one. Towns is a devastating offense weapon, but if we swapped Ayton for him, suddenly we're all offense, and teams like that don't win championships. Deandre may not be a superstar, but his defense puts us in a position to compete for the title if we can put the right pieces around him.

There are those who compare him to Drummond. Well, I think we've seen that the comparison is thin. Ayton's so much more impressive on D. And for all his shortcomings on offense, he sure has a ton of gravity. We'd be a joke without him.

I'd be ecstatic to re-sign him at $20 mil per. If we max him out, he may not be a great trade asset, but that's okay, since I'm not interested in dealing him.

[bwgood77]

He will not get a max contract the way he is playing but I think he will get a nice long term offer from us next summer. Hopefully we can extend him.

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

$56M/4 years (or $70M/5) would be an absolute steal for his production, I do not think he accepts a low offer like that.

He is already a better C than Valanciunas, Myles Turner and Steven Adams and all of them are getting between $15M and $20M per year.

Personally I would offer him $100M/5 years.

That would be way less than the max and a valuable contract for years to come taking into account his age/upside.

We will see, it will be pretty important his play for the rest of the season and if we finally will go to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

Yeah, LOL, he's going to get a lot more than $14 million a year. Many teams would be after him simply due to his gravity, screen assists and contested shots...he's also one of the very few Cs who can switch onto the perimeter. As you can see he is the only guy or one of the only guy that is near the top of the list in contesting 2s AND contesting 3s.

He will likely get something like $100 million and probably more...if not by us than someone else. You don't let a guy walk out the door and hope Saric can replace him as your future C or hope to find one in the draft again or hope to find one in FA no one wants (or if you can outbid someone other people wants that would be an overpay anyway).

I imagine he will be far better next year and even by the end of this year anyway....and he's probably worth near $20 million a year now.

He's certainly worth a hell of a lot more than Oubre who people were prepared to pay $20 million a year for....many said stuff like $23 or $24 million like Sidery, etc, on podcasts.

He may have been worth his $15...Ayton certainly not worth less than that and probably worth 40-50% more than that. C's with his particular skill set are rare, even though a lot of fans can't stand him.

Rebounds per game:4th behind Drummond, Capela and Gobert..all who have far less versatility than Ayton. Capela signed 5/$90, Drummond 5/$127 and Gobert 5/$205

As posted before:

CONTESTED SHOTS PER GAME
1. Brook LopezMIL 17.5
2. Deandre AytonPHX 14.9
3. Rudy GobertUTA 14.5
4. Myles TurnerIND 13.9
5. Jarrett AllenCLE 12.3
6. Christian WoodHOU 11.7
7. John CollinsATL 11.5
8. Clint CapelaATL 11.4
9. Anthony DavisLAL 11.1
9. Jakob PoeltlSAS 11.1

CONTESTED TWOS PER GAME
1. Brook LopezMIL 14.2
2. Rudy GobertUTA 11.4
3. Myles TurnerIND 11.3
4. Deandre AytonPHX 10.5
5. Jarrett AllenCLE 10.3
6. Clint CapelaATL 9.9
7. Jakob PoeltlSAS 8.7
8. Jonas ValanciunasMEM 8.6
9. Serge IbakaLAC 8.5
9. Christian WoodHOU 8.5

CONTESTED THREES PER GAME
1. Zion WilliamsonNOP 5.8
2. Josh HartNOP 4.6
3. Deandre AytonPHX 4.5
4. Giannis AntetokounmpoMIL 4.4
5. Andrew WigginsGSW 4.3
6. Eric BledsoeNOP 4.2
6. Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderOKC 4.2
8. Luguentz DortOKC 4.1
9. RJ BarrettNYK 4.0
9. Darius BazleyOKC 4.0

SCREEN ASSISTS PER GAME
1. Rudy GobertUTA 6.9
2. Domantas SabonisIND 6.6
3. Steven AdamsNOP 5.5
4. Jarrett AllenCLE 5.0
4. Wendell Carter Jr.CHI 5.0
6. Deandre AytonPHX 4.7
7. Nikola JokicDEN 4.5
8. Jakob PoeltlSAS 4.4
9. Bam AdebayoMIA 4.3
9. Khem BirchORL 4.3

[bwgood77]

Personally, I hope Ayton spends at least a decade in a Suns uni. Sure, I'd like him to be more aggressive and improve his skill level on offense, but who do I want defending Jokic? Deandre, for sure.

... Of course, I guess you'd rather have Jokic.

The Towns/Ayton debate is an interesting one. Towns is a devastating offense weapon, but if we swapped Ayton for him, suddenly we're all offense, and teams like that don't win championships. Deandre may not be a superstar, but his defense puts us in a position to compete for the title if we can put the right pieces around him.

There are those who compare him to Drummond. Well, I think we've seen that the comparison is thin. Ayton's so much more impressive on D. And for all his shortcomings on offense, he sure has a ton of gravity. We'd be a joke without him.

I'd be ecstatic to re-sign him at $20 mil per. If we max him out, he may not be a great trade asset, but that's okay, since I'm not interested in dealing him.

He's not a superstar, but what 3rd year player we've had has been? Amare maybe in that 3rd year? Booker scored a lot in 3rd year but not on good efficiency, didn't play D, hadn't started passing a lot yet, and still had a poor ast/to ratio. Ayton already far more important to the team in his 3rd year. Maybe he's unlikely to make that 4th year jump like Booker did but who knows?

[sunsbg]

I hope after putting more focus on his defensive development, they spend more time on his offense now as well. CP3 onboard and he's scoring 3-4pts below his career average...wtf?!? This team will go nowhere if they pay big money on two players, who form one complete player (Booker-O no D, Ayton-D no O).

[bwgood77]

I hope after putting more focus on his defensive development, they spend more time on his offense now as well. CP3 onboard and he's scoring 3-4pts below his career average...wtf?!? This team will go nowhere if they pay big money on two players, who form one complete player (Booker-O no D, Ayton-D no O).

I think Paul just spreads it around more, partly because we have a lot more good players and also because he scores more than any PG we've had recently. Booker also 4 points below each of his last two years..even below 3 years ago. Averaging a little more than his second year.

[lilfishi22]

He's going to get paid a reasonable amount. Even if there's no money in the market, Jones isn't going to give him a lowball offer. I think he'll get $20m plus which sounds like a lot but given his defensive impact, given he's not liability offensively and given his age, I think it makes sense even if the offensive consistency and the mental aspect of his game isn't there.

[suns12345]

He will not get a max contract the way he is playing but I think he will get a nice long term offer from us next summer. Hopefully we can extend him.

I hope James Jones doesn’t overpay him. If he can re-sign him for around $14M/yr at most then do it.

Otherwise they should let him hit RFA and then match whatever deal he gets there. This is the best way to do his contract imo.

There’s not many teams in the league with cap space and a need for a C. Plus Cs aren’t really valued all that much anymore unless your a dynamic offensive player like Embiid or Towns that can create their own shot at high rates or guys like Gobert/Bam that are super elite rim protectors.

$56M/4 years (or $70M/5) would be an absolute steal for his production, I do not think he accepts a low offer like that.

He is already a better C than Valanciunas, Myles Turner and Steven Adams and all of them are getting between $15M and $20M per year.

Personally I would offer him $100M/5 years.

That would be way less than the max and a valuable contract for years to come taking into account his age/upside.

We will see, it will be pretty important his play for the rest of the season and if we finally will go to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

I'd be happy with anything less than the max.

Who knows what he will end up being worth, but if we get him on a discount, there is always the chance he exceeds that contract with continued development that you sometimes see from big guys.

Paying the max for him if he doesn't prove to be worth it could really cap our ceiling as a team more than drafting for need or wasting assets ever could.

[Revived]

$56M/4 years (or $70M/5) would be an absolute steal for his production, I do not think he accepts a low offer like that.

He is already a better C than Valanciunas, Myles Turner and Steven Adams and all of them are getting between $15M and $20M per year.

Personally I would offer him $100M/5 years.

That would be way less than the max and a valuable contract for years to come taking into account his age/upside.

We will see, it will be pretty important his play for the rest of the season and if we finally will go to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

He’s only worth whatever the market is willing to pay for him. It’s kinda like all our salaries either, mine and your employer’s goal isn’t to pay us whatever we like, it’s to pay us whatever another company would pay.

Same thing in the NBA. If Ayton doesn’t have a market then who are the Suns competing with to sign him? For example, with Booker if we didn’t re-sign him to the max then Mavs, Knicks, Lakers etc would’ve signed him to a max offer sheet in RFA and forced us to match that.

Which team is gonna do that with Ayton? Not many, if any, will be willing to go over $14M imo.

Opposing team analysts, reporters, fans and hell even our own analysts and fans haven’t been all that thoroughly impressed with Ayton in his 3 years here even despite his #s being very nice.

This was written in the local Arizona Sports news article from just 3 days ago.

Ayton’s perplexing play reached a boiling point in the fourth quarter. Possessions that include Ayton showing bad hands, missing bunnies or getting lost defensively off the ball outside of pick-and-roll coverage have trended back upward in his third season. That’s after he got better at that stuff throughout his rookie season.

https://arizonasports.com/story/2533976/suns-defend-well-grind-against-celtics-to-5th-win-in-6-games/

Again, I just think when it comes to Ayton we should let the market dictate his contract. I want to see a team step up and sign him to an offer sheet. This isn’t something brand new it gets done all the time and Ayton is the type of player that we should use this option on imo.

Do you think seriously that there will not be any team in the league willing to sign Ayton to a contract over $14M per year? $14M per year?

I mean... Steven freaking Adams is getting $27M this season and signed this offseason an extension for another $17.5M per year the next couple of seasons.

The league is valuing big guys a bit more this season and teams are playing frontcourt players more minutes this season. That's why Monty Williams needed to start Kaminsky next to Ayton. A player like Ayton at C would be well received by most teams in the league.

Ayton committed some mistakes against the Celtics the other day, but we won and he was a big factor in that game. Ask to Celtics fans about who would they prefer at C for them...Tristan Thompson/Theis/Robert Williams or Ayton at $15M per year. I am sure about their answer.

I want to know which teams exactly. Which specific teams are gonna pay him over $15M/yr like you said. Boston?

Ayton has a well earned reputation for being one of the softest players in the league. Every team that he plays against basically knows this by now. The things he does at a very good level is rebounding and switching onto perimeter players. Everything else is as much a work in progress. His rim protection has gotten slightly worse as well as he refuses to leave his man and help which has led to the Suns giving up a crap load of pts in the paint in their past few. He guarded Drummond as if Drummond was prime Ray Allen in the last game.

He might get paid a lot because of gaudy stats. Enes Kanter made a ton of $$ because his #s are always really nice as well. His contract, similar to Steven Adams, also turned out to be a very bad contract.

I don’t have a problem with paying Ayton but I think they should let the market dictate his salary. And they shouldn’t extend him this coming summer just because he’s eligible for it imo they should see how much he develops into next season as well. Not sure if he’ll like it because Bridges, Young, Doncic and Sexton will all likely get big extensions. But at the end of the day, even by waiting till he officially hits RFA, we retain all rights to match any deal he signs so it’s a moot point.

[lilfishi22]

Just looking at cap space and I could be totally off with my half-a$$ internet research (shoutout Rewatchables), the Spurs seem to have a big chunk of salary coming off the books this offseason. Derozan, LMA, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills all come off the books, that's about $80m. If there's one team and one coach that could whip Ayton into a star, it's the Spurs. All those David Robinson comparison may come to fruition. I think they make the a lot of sense as an Ayton destination if they throw their hat in the ring

Knicks are going to have money this offseason and you never know which random player they are going to throw crazy money at, miss out and then throw the same money at their 2nd and third choice.

OKC is going to have money and they could certainly throw some money at Ayton. He would be a good fit next to a smart big like Horford.

Hornets might be a bit of a darkhorse with Zeller coming off the books, they have a somewhat interesting mix of young guys and vets.

[lilfishi22]

I don’t have a problem with paying Ayton but I think they should let the market dictate his salary. And they shouldn’t extend him this coming summer just because he’s eligible for it imo they should see how much he develops into next season as well. Not sure if he’ll like it because Bridges, Young, Doncic and Sexton will all likely get big extensions. But at the end of the day, even by waiting till he officially hits RFA, we retain all rights to match any deal he signs so it’s a moot point.

This gets mentioned almost every time but a player, especially one that while divisive is still a solid player with good potential and worth of investment, usually doesn't make it to restricted free agency because the team wants to lock them into a reasonable deal on their terms.

The only time you let them hit RFA is if you are REALLY unsure whether they can play or whether the team wants to continue investing in the player, like Bender for example.

[phx#7]

Just looking at cap space and I could be totally off with my half-a$$ internet research (shoutout Rewatchables), the Spurs seem to have a big chunk of salary coming off the books this offseason. Derozan, LMA, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills all come off the books, that's about $80m. If there's one team and one coach that could whip Ayton into a star, it's the Spurs. All those David Robinson comparison may come to fruition. I think they make the a lot of sense as an Ayton destination if they throw their hat in the ring

Knicks are going to have money this offseason and you never know which random player they are going to throw crazy money at, miss out and then throw the same money at their 2nd and third choice.

OKC is going to have money and they could certainly throw some money at Ayton. He would be a good fit next to a smart big like Horford.

Hornets might be a bit of a darkhorse with Zeller coming off the books, they have a somewhat interesting mix of young guys and vets.

Ayton isn't a FA this offseason though. He is merely eligible for extension, if he doesn't get one he will still only be RFA next year.

[lilfishi22]

Just looking at cap space and I could be totally off with my half-a$$ internet research (shoutout Rewatchables), the Spurs seem to have a big chunk of salary coming off the books this offseason. Derozan, LMA, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills all come off the books, that's about $80m. If there's one team and one coach that could whip Ayton into a star, it's the Spurs. All those David Robinson comparison may come to fruition. I think they make the a lot of sense as an Ayton destination if they throw their hat in the ring

Knicks are going to have money this offseason and you never know which random player they are going to throw crazy money at, miss out and then throw the same money at their 2nd and third choice.

OKC is going to have money and they could certainly throw some money at Ayton. He would be a good fit next to a smart big like Horford.

Hornets might be a bit of a darkhorse with Zeller coming off the books, they have a somewhat interesting mix of young guys and vets.

Ayton isn't a FA this offseason though. He is merely eligible for extension, if he doesn't get one he will still only be RFA next year.

Good point (half-a$$ internet research let me down). I could still see the Spurs making a run at Ayton if they keep some cap space. Maybe he's not worth the trouble but man, if there was one team and one coach......

[Revived]

I don’t have a problem with paying Ayton but I think they should let the market dictate his salary. And they shouldn’t extend him this coming summer just because he’s eligible for it imo they should see how much he develops into next season as well. Not sure if he’ll like it because Bridges, Young, Doncic and Sexton will all likely get big extensions. But at the end of the day, even by waiting till he officially hits RFA, we retain all rights to match any deal he signs so it’s a moot point.

This gets mentioned almost every time but a player, especially one that while divisive is still a solid player with good potential and worth of investment, usually doesn't make it to restricted free agency because the team wants to lock them into a reasonable deal on their terms.

The only time you let them hit RFA is if you are REALLY unsure whether they can play or whether the team wants to continue investing in the player, like Bender for example.

Yeah maybe that’s how it’s done but I just think anytime a player isn’t a for sure max player, then offer them something team friendly and worth what they’ve shown thus far and they either take it or they don’t. If they don’t, then let them hit FA and pay then.

Otherwise it’d be like Andrew Wiggins deal where you pay for mostly potential and name recognition.

It’s not just Ayton, even when it comes to Bridges, I’d offer him something the team thinks is fair (~$20M/yr) and then not deviate from it significantly if he doesn’t accept. Simply wait till RFA and then re-sign him for whatever market value is.