Report: The Phoenix Suns did not extend DeAndre Ayton and will become a free agent. Did the Suns make a mistake?
According to Adrain Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Phoenix Suns were unsuccessful in extending DeAndre Ayton to a contract due to different expectations from the organization and Ayton.
Reports suggest that Ayton was seeking a max-extension which the Suns did not want to match. Due to differences of opinion from the organization, Phoenix could not sign the former first overall pick to the contract he wanted. Instead, he will enter this upcoming off-season as an unrestricted free agent which means, the Suns could match any contract he is offered.
Anthony Bennett was the last and only other time a player picked first in the NBA draft was not extended after his rookie contract. Unfortunately, Ayton joins this very specific list as he is nowhere close to the bust that Bennet was in the NBA.
The lack of an extension by the Suns to the young center was surprising, considering how well he played in the playoffs. In his first season of making the playoffs, Ayton averaged 15.8 PTS, 11.8 REB, 1.1 BLK, and 0.8 STL a game on a 65.8 FG% shooting. For a player that has never made the NBA playoffs or Finals, these numbers are very impressive!
The Phoenix Suns not extending Ayton was an odd decision, especially when factoring in how great of a role he played during their trip to the NBA Finals. In the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, Ayton averaged close to 80% from the field while looking like the best big-man in the entire series! While his numbers were similar to his total playoff averages, his impact on the Suns was desperately needed. From his incredible game-winning alley-oop shot against the Los Angeles Clippers to being a solid offensive contributor in the pick and roll, Ayton played amazingly for his first playoff appearance. So why did the Sun’s not sign Ayton to a rookie max-extension despite his outstanding performance in the playoffs?
The NBA has slowly evolved into positionless basketball while focusing primarily on shooting as opposed to scoring inside. Due to Stephen Curry and the dominant Golden State Warriors in the mid-2010s, the rest of the NBA was forced to evolve their playstyle to match the shooting the Warriors were consistently producing. With this new era of positionless basketball, the Phoenix Suns may have felt inclined to not extend Ayton to a super-max extension due to his lack of ability to shoot the basketball. Since being drafted in the NBA, Ayton has been more of an inside presence instead of an outside presence. While he is elite on the inside, his lack of a jump-shot may be why the Suns were hesitant to grant the extension that Ayton was expecting.
Despite the lack of a jump-shot being a fair argument in not extending Ayton to the contract he wanted, here is where the Suns made a mistake. As shown, Ayton produced meaningful stats that led to wins in the playoffs, something that Andre Drummond could never do in Detriot. The reason for this is due to how well of a system player Ayton is. The moment the Sun’s traded for Chris Paul, most sources deemed Ayton as a candidate for winning the most improved award due to how well he could adapt to the Sun’s system with Paul. While he could not live up to those expectations, he still played solid basketball and started to look like a most improved player candidate when the playoffs began. In other words, Ayton has shown improvement at a pretty fast rate. A lack of a jump shot is a serious concern, but that could be developed over time as Ayton is only 23 years old.
The good news for the Phoenix Suns is that Ayton will be a restricted free agent, which means that Phoenix can match any offer that Ayton is given. Even though this is a blessing from the Sun’s perspective, Ayton must feel a different type of way. According to Eric Townsend of “Fansided,” Ayton feels “frustrated” about not receiving the extension he thought he deserved.
Concluding thoughts
While some may agree with the Phoenix Sun’s not extending a player who can’t shoot on a max contract, Ayton would have received the market value of any other promising center in the NBA. It is unfortunate that the Sun’s disrespected Ayton for not extending him to the contract he wanted. However, Ayton has this season to prove to the Suns and the entire NBA why he is a max-contract type player. If Ayton could show strides of improvement in the NBA playoffs, expect him to make an even more significant leap for this upcoming season.