Are Suns going to pay Ayton AND Cam Johnson?

[Hook_Em]

The Ayton contract stuff is well established but Cam Johnson is up for an extension this off-season. He’s their best shooter and player off the bench (can also fill in starting) and is 3rd in VORP (whatever that means) behind Paul/Booker. Their title hopes would take a huge hit without him in my opinion. Granted he’s an older player (turns 26 in March) for a guy on a rookie deal but should get a hefty deal the way he’s improved. Can and will they pay both players this summer? They just paid Bridges as well…

[SecondTake]

Neither of these guys really contribute much to them winning. Ayton can be replaced with a much cheaper Mcgee, and Cam is a role player that you really shouldnt pay much for - there's a ton of 3PT guys available every off season for relatively cheap.

[Walmart]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

[LV-Suns]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

There is little to no chance Suns are letting Ayton walk because of Biyombo. Ayton showed in the playoffs why he is the most impactful player on the team in the playoff run last year. The Suns are winning because they are a deep team, but I don't trust McGee or Biyombo to make any impact in the playoffs.

[Scalabrine]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

Cam seems primed to have a similar contract to Joe Harris, Eric Gordon, THj, Fournier, Powell, the Bogdanovic's, Gary Trent... somewhere between 17-20 million depending on the years.

[UcanUwill]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

Ayton is great, but how much is it Point gods effect? I mean look at Biymbo as you said, Paul is making anyone who can set a pick and catch a ball look like NBA starter. Yeah, they are not maxing Ayton, I dont see it.

[Lalouie]

mcgee doing great, biyambo at all time hi's.....all because of cp3

center position is plug and play unless youre' giannis, jokic, embiid, and ayton aint them. he had worth at a very specific point and time last year for phx in the play-offs. are people already forgetting ayton had to be babied?. he's fragile upstairs. it may be less so now, but the guy only has a half a brain for basketball.

phx already decided not to pay him once and they'll do it again. they'll maybe pay cam they WON'T pay ayton

[LV-Suns]

The Suns already offered him a 4 year max extension last year, he wanted the five year contract. He can only sign a 4 year max with any team this summer, including the Suns. It was only done because this would allow the Suns to bring in another max player once CP3 hangs it up. Even if he signs the contract somewhere else, Suns will match it because they were willing to give them the money last summer. The idea that Phoenix decided to not pay him is false.

[Dan Z]

For those of you who think they won't re-sign Ayton where do you think he'll go? A sign and trade? My take is that they'll figure out a contract and he'll stay.

[Phystic]

Neither of these guys really contribute much to them winning. Ayton can be replaced with a much cheaper Mcgee, and Cam is a role player that you really shouldnt pay much for - there's a ton of 3PT guys available every off season for relatively cheap.

Do you watch Suns games? My guess is you don't judging by your take on Cam.

[SkyBill40]

For those of you who think they won't re-sign Ayton where do you think he'll go? A sign and trade? My take is that they'll figure out a contract and he'll stay.

He'll become a RFA and if any team offers him, the Suns can match. The key thing is that no other teams can offer Ayton anything close to what the Suns can in terms of length or amount. So, this could end up being a shrewd move on their part to save money. Then again, while I don't expect it'll happen, they could S/T him elsewhere but the options for getting a decent return would be pretty limited.

For what it's worth, I think his stats are being bolstered significantly by the CP3 effect. If he doesn't have a PG who can feed him and play the screen and role game as well, he will drop off. Count on it.

[LV-Suns]

For those of you who think they won't re-sign Ayton where do you think he'll go? A sign and trade? My take is that they'll figure out a contract and he'll stay.

He'll become a RFA and if any team offers him, the Suns can match. The key thing is that no other teams can offer Ayton anything close to what the Suns can in terms of length or amount. So, this could end up being a shrewd move on their part to save money. Then again, while I don't expect it'll happen, they could S/T him elsewhere but the options for getting a decent return would be pretty limited.

For what it's worth, I think his stats are being bolstered significantly by the CP3 effect. If he doesn't have a PG who can feed him and play the screen and role game as well, he will drop off. Count on it.

He is putting up the same amount of points per game on similar efficiency as he did when he was a rookie. His PG was Jamal Crawford. He had plenty of big games in the playoffs last year when CP3 was out or playing hobbled, he crushed the clippers small ball lineups. If anything, his offensive ability is being under utilized in the Suns system.

[cupcakesnake]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

Ayton is great, but how much is it Point gods effect? I mean look at Biymbo as you said, Paul is making anyone who can set a pick and catch a ball look like NBA starter. Yeah, they are not maxing Ayton, I dont see it.

This could be an argument for why they do max Ayton. The Point God turns 37 this spring, and while his recent health has been encouraging, any player in their late 30s can be an injury away from their star days being over. Ayton was a promising young center before Chris Paul showed up (Paul hasn't really boosted him statistically) and is only 23. Ayton represents their best chance at a star running mate next to Booker, once they need more than a rim runner. Maybe he negotiates for less than the max, or tries to escape with through RFA and gets the smaller max matched. He'll try to get Bam Adebayo money, and the Suns will try to give him Clint Capela money is my guess.

Ayton's growth has come defensively, and has been linear development since he entered the league.

[Statlanta]

I don't think Ayton is gone. Biyombo gonna get played out of the rotation in the playoffs. Suns just testing the market on Ayton as they own his rights. Cam Johnson might be gone if they don't win.

[Richard Miller]

Ayton can be replaced with a much cheaper Mcgee

Jokic would drop 50 on Mcgee

[Hoop Heavy]

Ayton's gone. They put in Biyombo and still are winning. Cam I think depends on the deal, but they have to think about trading Crowder now if they want to keep Cam.

Ayton is great, but how much is it Point gods effect? I mean look at Biymbo as you said, Paul is making anyone who can set a pick and catch a ball look like NBA starter. Yeah, they are not maxing Ayton, I dont see it.

This is very true and highly underrated.


Look at Yertseven! Is he really the second coming of Hakeem? If he signs for big money somewhere with a selfish point guard ... he's looks like another big who needs to be spoon-fed. Props to the bigs ... but all hail the holders of the spoons.

[og15]

For those of you who think they won't re-sign Ayton where do you think he'll go? A sign and trade? My take is that they'll figure out a contract and he'll stay.

He'll become a RFA and if any team offers him, the Suns can match. The key thing is that no other teams can offer Ayton anything close to what the Suns can in terms of length or amount. So, this could end up being a shrewd move on their part to save money. Then again, while I don't expect it'll happen, they could S/T him elsewhere but the options for getting a decent return would be pretty limited.

For what it's worth, I think his stats are being bolstered significantly by the CP3 effect. If he doesn't have a PG who can feed him and play the screen and role game as well, he will drop off. Count on it.

He is putting up the same amount of points per game on similar efficiency as he did when he was a rookie. His PG was Jamal Crawford. He had plenty of big games in the playoffs last year when CP3 was out or playing hobbled, he crushed the clippers small ball lineups. If anything, his offensive ability is being under utilized in the Suns system.

Well, I wouldn't call his efficiency "similar" unless you are stretching similar pretty far. His rookie season vs this season has a 5.2% difference in FG% and a 5.8% difference in 2PT%, usually when we say similar, we're talking about 1-2% difference, not 5-6%. There is a clear solid increase, not simply related to Paul, but of course he helps that, but he's a good player regardless.

Rookie:
58.5% FG | 58.8% 2PT

21-22:
63.7% FG | 64.6% 2PT

[slicedbread2]

Damn right Sarver's ass better pay both of them and be willing to go over the tax. I know he's a scrupulous cheapskate, but Booker and CP3 just gotta do this:

[Calvin Klein]

Yes, Ayton improved a lot with CP3 but no way he can be replaced with either Mcgee or Biyombo. I understand most people don't watch the games and only look at box scores, but if you follow this team you would know that Ayton is a much better player for many reasons.

[Phystic]

For those of you who think they won't re-sign Ayton where do you think he'll go? A sign and trade? My take is that they'll figure out a contract and he'll stay.

He'll become a RFA and if any team offers him, the Suns can match. The key thing is that no other teams can offer Ayton anything close to what the Suns can in terms of length or amount. So, this could end up being a shrewd move on their part to save money. Then again, while I don't expect it'll happen, they could S/T him elsewhere but the options for getting a decent return would be pretty limited.

For what it's worth, I think his stats are being bolstered significantly by the CP3 effect. If he doesn't have a PG who can feed him and play the screen and role game as well, he will drop off. Count on it.

Now cp3 has certainly helped his fg%. However Aytons stats are consistent with what he did his first two years pre cp3. If anything, the CP3 effect should be a permanent one post cp3. As it is how Ayton approaches the game and the 2 way effort he has now that he didn't before.