Although the Suns never offered center Deandre Ayton the five-year maximum-salary deal he originally sought, they told him throughout his free agency that they intended to match any offer sheet he signed with another team, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.
The Suns made good on that promise, immediately matching Ayton’s offer sheet once they received it from the Pacers. In a phone conversation with Spears, Suns general manager James Jones said the team felt it was “critical” not to waste any time making that move.
“We wanted Deandre here,” Jones said. “He’s vital to what we do, at the core of everything that we do. And throughout this whole process it was, it rang true. We wanted to keep him here, and the moment we can come to an agreement, we would. So, waiting 24 hours, 48 hours, that wasn’t something we needed to do because going into it, we knew this is where he wanted to be and where we wanted him to be.
“I’m one to just be direct. And if you’re convicted, if you know what you want to do, you do it. But if there’s any doubt from anyone that we wanted him, I think that the matching did that. It was urgent for us. It was important. It was critical for us. So, we just wanted to make sure that we handled our business quickly.”
While Jones insists that Phoenix was “where (Ayton) wanted to be,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski hears from sources that the former No. 1 overall pick was intrigued by the possibility of teaming up with Tyrese Haliburton and becoming a core player in Indiana. Speaking to Spears, Ayton indicated he was happy to be back with his former team, but also praised the club he nearly joined for how it handled the restricted free agency process.
“I got to give a lot of respect to the Pacers organization. They were aggressive from the start and showing a lot of love. And we agreed to a max offer sheet. The Suns matched. Now, I’m back in Phoenix as a Sun,” Ayton said, adding that his new contract will have a “generational impact” on his family and on the community work he can do in Phoenix and in the Bahamas, his home country.
There was plenty of chatter earlier in the offseason about the possibility of Ayton leaving Phoenix, but the Suns never showed a willingness to discuss a sign-and-trade deal with the Pacers, despite Indiana’s interest in doing so, according to ESPN.
Ayton’s final 2021/22 appearance played a part in the speculation about his offseason departure — he logged a playoff-low 17 minutes in a blowout Game 7 loss to Dallas in the Western Conference Semifinals, and was seen jawing with head coach Monty Williams on the sidelines.
However, the two men downplayed that incident in their respective interviews with Spears. Williams referred to it as a “bad day,” while Ayton said it was “in the past,” adding that he and his coach are on good terms.
“Game 7 was an anomaly,” Ayton said. “We let that get away from us as a team. That is all in the past. We’re going to look forward. We are going to move on.”
‘We wanted him here…on a discount’.
Pretty much where I line up on the topic as well.
Lol this gm is in the spin zone, wanted him there so bad they forced him and another team to do his negotiations
Not really a discount as much as centers aren’t valued as much as other positions anymore and although he is a great great player teams just don’t usually overpay as much for centers as other positions in past 10 years.. they know they have extremely valuable team mate and therefore matched quickly
Why didn’t Indiana throw in a few “poison pills” like a no-trade clause and trade escalators to dissuade Phoenix from matching???? Wasn’t it worth a try?
I was wondering that myself
cuz if phx doesnt match then theyre stuck w. it lol
B/c they didnt actually want him. They were trying to force Phoenix’s hand
What would the Pacers have to gain by forcing Phoenixes hand? There not even in the same conference man. Unless you think the Pacers are some sleeper team for KD?
They couldn’t have given him a no-trade clause — a player needs to have at least eight years of NBA experience and at least four years with his team for one of those. But they could have done a trade kicker and/or a fourth-year player option if they’d wanted to. It doesn’t appear they did either.
Slight correction:
“those players (1) with 8 years of service and (2) who have already played for 4 or more years with the team that has agreed to the trade prohibition or limitation.”
Thought that was what I said, but I guess my “with his team” wording was a little vague.
Yeah, a player can’t get a formal no-trade clause unless he has already spent at least four seasons with the team that’s giving him the clause (though, weirdly, not necessarily the four most recent seasons!).
Maybe a gamesmanship mixed with a little collusion. To not add a kicker or PO was weird. Indy has nothing to lose adding a PO. All it would have done was make PHX’s want to match it little less.
It was weird not to put something in it. But PHX and Indy have done trades in the past. Just last season it was Torrey Craig for Jalen Smith. Maybe some back scratching going on, idk.
An insider, maybe Sam Vencenie said Indy’s owner is a real team player amd doesn’t even like bidding against other owners.
Whole thing needs a 30 for 30 at least even if it was nothing it was a weird ride for a #1 overall pick that is extremely efficient.
He should have been playing with Haliburton in Phoenix. Not taking him is one of the biggest mistakes in Phoenix Suns draft history.
Jones is “one to be direct” and “if you know what you want to do, you just do it”….except for actually offering him a contract yourself.
Agree. After I saw that quote, I had to re-read to make sure I didn’t miss something because it didn’t seem direct to me.
If poison pill had a year 2 big escalations. PHO would have a very hard time paying everyone else. Especially booker/bridges
You mean the guys they already paid?
Suns lose for this
If they really “wanted” him why not give him a offer and try to sign as soon as they can. They waiting till they saw what the market was for him . So the so call really wanted him is a lie. They just didn’t want to pay him a lot
Major screwup on their behalf.
Why should they bid against themselves?
Because you want to invest and take care of your people(stars)( own #1 pick)…. It’s easy decision to make if you want to invest in your future. He deserves it as much as others and he proved it and Phoenix was wrong.
Monty might be a great coach but he’s too afraid to call out CP3 and Booker, and thus only picks on Ayton. No more rookie treatment!! He’s equal star as CP3 and Booker! In fact, CP3 should be now beloe Ayton in terms of priority.
Let the media spin…I mean healing begin…
Is there a bad contract Indiana wanted to get out of via sign and trade for ayton? Only other reason I could think is the indy front office is doing a solid for his agent.
link to statmuse.com
2021-22
Ayton —- G 58, Mins 29.5, PTS 17.2,
TRB 10.2, AST 1.41, FG% .639
Salary 23 yrs old …..
133 million for 4 yrs.
Rudy —- G 66, Mins 32.1, PTS 15.6,
TRB 14.7, AST 1.1, FG% .713
Salary 30 yrs old …..
205 million for 5 yrs.
WHATS a BETTER DEAL ??????
I take the 23 yr old with plenty upside still.
He gives a lot of “ Respect” to an organization that spoke about wanting him but waited days and days to sign him to an offer sheet knowing it would go nowhere.
The Suns clearly value Ayton at this contract. Suns want him and know they’re a better team with him. James Jones has been on enough winning teams to know that organizations have to keep flexibility. It’s part of the business and it’s a part of playing on a winning team. Would you rather be the Suns with Ayton and his contract or would you rather be the Nuggets with MPJ’s… sure it might hurt the players feelings a little bit but a winning player would understand that the Suns want to value winning above all else and would look past it to play on a contender. Suns could very well still trade him eventually. But you know it would only be for a KD type of player.