Deandre Ayton 'Disappointed' Extension With Suns Didn't Get Done

[RealGM Wiretap]

Deandre Ayton admitted he was disappointed that the Phoenix Suns didn't offer him a full, five-year max extension.

Ayton will be a restricted free agent in the 2022 offseason.

"One thing about me, throughout my whole life, I've always learned to control what I can control," Ayton said. "At the same time, obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm still trying to get us back to the finals. I've still got to represent the team and myself as well. I'm just a competitor, man. Just like to compete to the best and every time I'm in between those lines, that's what you're going to see out of me. Nothing else."

James Jones said in an interview with The Athletic that "we didn't have real negotiations" with Ayton's representative, but Ayton's agents, Bill Duffy and Nima Namakian, said the Suns didn't offer any kind of max deal, even informally.

Via Duane Rankin/Arizona Republic

[teco1497]

he is gone.

[King4Day]

he is gone.

He is restricted

[TeamTragic]

he is gone.

[Pickled Prunes]

Of course he's "disappointed" that they didn't offer him the most money he could possibly get. I would be too. That doesn't mean that he's angry. I'm sure he understands where he is and where he needs to get to to command that kind of salary.

James Jones was right to say they had no negotiations. Ayton saying "max or nothing" isn't a negotiation. And he can't point to Doncic or Young and say he deserves it because he was picked ahead of them. He should be thankful that PHX picked to fill a roster need rather than the best player because Ayton was not the best player. If he went to ATL or DAL, those teams might still be in the lottery. He is a good player in the perfect situation. He would be as foolish to leave as PHX would be to let him leave.

[D21]

he is gone.

haha, like the media were almost all saying Collins will be gone because ATL didn't offer him the Max...
We can also use Collins as an example for this case : IMO, Ayton should get around the same amount, maybe even less. Why ?
- a stat that matches pretty well what I saw :
http://www.82games.com/2021/2021PHO.HTM and http://www.82games.com/2021/2021ATL.HTM
Ayton has his direct opponent producing nearly the same than him, and the team is just a bit better with him than without (+1.1pts)
Collins has a bigger direct and team impact, still without being at star level
- and if he wants to base it on the NBA Finals, they should remind him that PHX, like MIL were the two less injured team of last season, which is certainly one of the reasons why they reach the Finals
If they want to reach it again, they will need to keep everybody, if not add a bit of help, and it won't start by giving him the Max.

If James Jones only received a Max or nothing, I fully understand that there was no negotiation at all, and he's perfectly right.
Ayton, even if he will earn more than Huerter, should look at what he said :
"The NBA does a good job of making $100 million seem like not a lot of money. To the rest of the world, my friends, my peers, my family, even $1 million is a lot of money. I tried to keep that in perspective throughout the whole thing. It's life-changing money."