Yesterday was depressing, but today is looking up.
Wow. If he stays healthy that’s a great pickup, IMHO.
Hey eff Miles Bridges (perhaps dont click that link if you are likely to be triggered by unpleasant images)
I am enjoying Windhorst becoming a meme
Well, the Pacers decided not to wait for a sign and trade…
That was fast.
Lasted about 15 minutes. RIP Pacers legend Deandre Ayton 8:02-8:16pm 7/14/2022
Probably the worst outcome for Ayton. IMHO, to become the player he is capable of becoming, he needed to get out of Phoenix.
Phoenix gets him a bit cheaper than if they had resigned him to a max deal and won’t have that 5th year at a time when they are likely to be rebuilding after Paul leaves, but if they don’t utilize him better they have hit their ceiling. Ignoring the advantage he had in the Finals for long stretches was what cost them in the '21 Finals, and ignoring him v Dallas cost them in this year’s playoffs.
You could say Ayton’s agent dictated the Sun’s move by getting the deal from the Pacers. He apparently waited a couple weeks before approaching other teams so Phoenix had a chance to do something with him if they wanted.
Yup. Also, Ayton could have waited to sign longer and just let it be known he had the offer in hand. However, he may need the money now, or have figured it was the best he was going to get.
Didn’t he get a “max” offer so he couldn’t have done better? I admit NBA contracts are not my specialty.
As his original team, PHX could have offered him a 5-year max; during his restricted free agency, other teams were capped out at 4 years. Given the usual percentage-based scaling of contracts year-by-year and the propensity for athletic bigs to suffer career-derailing injuries out of nowhere, that extra $$$ guaranteed for another year would have been very nice, but PHX wasn’t willing to budge. They’re rumored to have offered him a 4-year max previously, but he pushed them for 5, and they wouldn’t budge on it, so he sat for a year, entered RFA, got a max offer elsewhere, and then got yanked back by PHX, anyway.
So what are you, an agent is something? ;)
It does seem weird you would treat your own past #1draft choice, who seems to have panned out, that way
Also swirling rumors about some sort of breakdown between some mixture of Ayton, Sarver, Coach Monte, and maybe CP3/Book. I don’t really follow the Suns deeply, so I dunno their actually informed beat dudes versus randos who spew rumors on twitter for fun, so take it with a grain of salt, of course. But the weird lack of playtime for him in G7 of Rd 2 vs. the Mavs this year, some minor comments from Ayton in the form of “I can’t pass myself the ball” – I could see there being some version of something being there, sure. Maybe it’s attitude problems? Some other leakers suggest Ayton just plays videogames all night. Maybe it’s a scheme thing – not a lot of center-powered teams in the league right now, and the Mavs basically had to go small by default, right – who are they gonna lean on there, Dwight Powell?
We’ll probably get more clarity on all of it in a few years on some low-viewership podcast interview when one of the involved parties is feeling sad and lonely in their retirement and wants attention :)
In any case, the Suns seemed to feel like he was worth offering four years at or near the max to, but not worth locking themselves in for a full five with. That’s a weird hair to split. I can get not wanting to trap your non-NY/LA/Miami franchise in the tax for years with a supermax to the rare star you actually drafted when you know you’ll never contend anyway, but A) I don’t think Ayton qualified for a full supermax, B) they’re gonna be in the tax or close to it for four years now, anyway, C) they have other stars and actually managed some decent free agent signings over the last couple of years, and D) they were literally in the finals a year ago.
Then again, the Suns are just a weird place right now. All those nasty reports and rumors about Sarver awhile back, and Silver saying the investigation is nearly complete. Could be that he’s gone by year’s end and is just being his usual fucker-self on the way out, causing maximum chaos for no real gain :)
I did hear a guy on ESPN say that PHX has done what they can in the past to avoid the tax and so this may be them trying to do it again.
Yeah, Sarver is notoriously cheap and has hamstrung potential championship-caliber teams in the past to avoid spending $$. Probably one of the owners who loves to go on record to whine about how Joe Lacob and Steve Ballmer are unfairly actually willing to pay money to players who are good at basketball to be on their teams.
IIRC, whatever other investments he has were hit hard by Covid, kinda like Fertitta’s restaurant empire (Houston owner), so maybe he’s actually feeling some pain.
But, I mean, end of the day, they still gave Ayton his money, and are gonna be in the tax this season at minimum, IIRC. So the whole thing is just weird as hell and burning whatever remnants of a bridge there might have been with Ayton.
But not burning Bridges. Mikal is too wholesome to hurt!
Lol, all that drama, but Brooklyn simply overpriced KD and no one was willing to deal.
Basketball is one sport where the team that trades the super star almost always loses the trade. So the Nets must have wanted too much. Also, I think KD limited who he would accept a trade to to just a few teams.