What NBA teams would offer Ayton a max of he's not extended?

[sikma42]

plenty of teams with no starting center. hornets, raptors, wolves etc.
he will be 100% gone if no max. bridges not probable but better watch out too 3 and D like him is rare.
looks like suns is another typical franchise lost a potential ring bc of cheap owner. bulls, okc all were stripped of 1 rings too.

I absolutely agree with you that it seems that Saver hasn't apparently learned anything from the Joe Johnson debacle! It sucks to have such a terrible owner. But I honestly agree with your post in its entirety of course. Although I do think that the Wolves won't have an interest as long as KAT is there. But aside from the 4 expected teams for next summer: Memphis, Orlando, San Antonio, Detroit. I could definitely see the interest for the Hornets, Raptors, Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, Kings, Pels, Wizards?? Of course a few of those teams mentioned would need to make a few salary moves to accommodate his anticipated max salary. But I believe there'll be no shortage of teams willing to make moves to acquire him.

If I had to guess though as yo the top 5 teams most likely to pursue him with an offer/ sign 'n' trade in restricted free agency, I'd look to:

1- Hornets.
2- OKC.
3- San Antonio.
4- Orlando.
5- New York.

Ayton feels tailor made to move to the next level under Pop....

This. I could see Ayton becoming a HOFer and averaging 25 a game in San Antonio. People don't realize that Ayton is a more natural scorer than a defender. Now that he has shown elite potential on that end...he should def get the max

[jbk1234]

Grizzlies.

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[ciueli]

Many of those ratings are more team based and b-ref is mostly counting stats on box scores. Ayton for example does a lot of stuff that doesn't show up in the box scores. He is the only player in the NBA in the top 10 in both contested 2s and contested 3s. I think he's actually in the top 5 in one and top 7 or so in the other. He is one of the league leaders in screen assists.

I think Jarrett Allen is good, but I don't think he can do a lot of the things Ayton can do now. Ayton made tremendous strides, particularly on defense, over this last season though, particularly in the playoffs. Ayton was at like 18/12 is second year before CP3 came and took over as 2nd scoring option while Ayton's shots went down by 50% (though his points per shot went way up). He also is among the league leaders in rebounding and offensive rebounding.

Well, the thing is that he got a big bump from playing with Chris Paul this past season, one of the best point guards of all time. And it's on both ends of the floor, as Chris Paul is still one of the best defensive guards in the game.

Maybe if Ayton had shown up better against the Bucks I could see him as a max player, but a partially hobbled Giannis averaged 35/13/5 on high efficiency against him, it makes me question his defense at least a little.

[Black Jack]

Anybody who wouldn't max Ayton is flat out crazy....or broke.

[bwgood77]

Many of those ratings are more team based and b-ref is mostly counting stats on box scores. Ayton for example does a lot of stuff that doesn't show up in the box scores. He is the only player in the NBA in the top 10 in both contested 2s and contested 3s. I think he's actually in the top 5 in one and top 7 or so in the other. He is one of the league leaders in screen assists.

I think Jarrett Allen is good, but I don't think he can do a lot of the things Ayton can do now. Ayton made tremendous strides, particularly on defense, over this last season though, particularly in the playoffs. Ayton was at like 18/12 is second year before CP3 came and took over as 2nd scoring option while Ayton's shots went down by 50% (though his points per shot went way up). He also is among the league leaders in rebounding and offensive rebounding.

Well, the thing is that he got a big bump from playing with Chris Paul this past season, one of the best point guards of all time. And it's on both ends of the floor, as Chris Paul is still one of the best defensive guards in the game.

Maybe if Ayton had shown up better against the Bucks I could see him as a max player, but a partially hobbled Giannis averaged 35/13/5 on high efficiency against him, it makes me question his defense at least a little.

Crowder guarded Giannis mostly. Ayton played fairly well in the first two games for a 22 year old but then they went big with Lopez and Portis along with Giannis which made it tough to contain those big guys and the boards. Ayton had no backup big either. It was either Kaminsky or small ball with Torrey Craig at C.

[ciueli]

Crowder guarded Giannis mostly. Ayton played fairly well in the first two games for a 22 year old but then they went big with Lopez and Portis along with Giannis which made it tough to contain those big guys and the boards. Ayton had no backup big either. It was either Kaminsky or small ball with Torrey Craig at C.

No team defends a player like Giannis 1 on 1, help defense is critial, the kind of help defense Ayton was unable to provide. A player like Jarrett Allen might have actually been a better option than Ayton for this simply due to his superior shot blocking.

Lopez played fewer minutes that series than in any previous series (24.4 MPG) because he was virtually played off the floor by the Suns' small ball lineup in game 1. Portis is a converted PF (literally was listed as a C for the first time in 2020-21) who only averaged 16.6 minutes per game in the Finals, 7 out of his made 17 FG for the series are 3s. So it's not like the Bucks were crushing the Suns with their size. Ayton played decently in the finals, but it really was not enough and there are a number of moments that highlight it, such as this one:

Watch on YouTube