DeBlazerRiddem wrote:I'll throw in my hot take... Ayton is mercurial. He is inconsistent, more so than many players. There is good Ayton and bad Ayton. The good Ayton doesn't do enough (or show up enough) to justify the bad Ayton but it is there. He is not Hassan Whiteside type bad. I remember him and Ayton is better than that. There is a good player in there, limited but positive at points, he was part of a good Suns team and IIRC was a part of our mini run mid season. But again, it is too often out shadowed by the bad and you look at year after year progression and it is a downward trend for Ayton, no one smart bets on that trend reversing, maybe a bump or two in a contract year but the trend will continue. Suns fans told us as much. Thankfully we have a young center who seems to have a good defensive impact on our hands so we don't even have to make a tough decision.
Both Ayton and Simons should be allowed to expire. If they take MLE ish contracts to stay with a familiar situation then maybe, and I stress that maybe, you consider their ability to contribute in smaller roles but it will be a day of great shame to our front office if either get extended with real significant money. A day that like most I fear is entirely possible, this front office doesn't seem to know when to get off a bad ride.
You're just regurgitating what I said, but nicely.
Whiteside was great on a minimum contract. Same with Carmelo. Solid minimum level contract players that could have helped sweep the floors after the game was over.
Ayton and Simons are very good, solid players that are worthy of a full MLE contract. If another team wants to pay above market value for them, it might make sense for that team. At that point, you let them walk. For a stuck in a headless rebuild Blazers team, you try to retain them on a reasonable contract, but you don't overpay. Cap flexibility is an asset.
