- The Suns seem committed to being a taxpaying team after matching the Pacers’ offer sheet for Deandre Ayton, and Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic examines whether the roster is good enough to justify that investment. Phoenix currently has $167.1MM in guaranteed salary, well above the projected $150.267MM tax threshold, and is facing a projected $34.8MM tax bill.
JULY 21: Virtus Bologna has formally announced its deal with Lundberg.
JULY 20: Free agent shooting guard Gabriel Lundberg, who finished the 2021/22 season with the Suns, is set to join Italian team Virtus Bologna, reports Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (Twitter link). According to Carchia, Lundberg’s new deal will be the most lucrative ever for a Danish player.
Lundberg, who has played professionally in international leagues since 2014, left CSKA Moscow earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and signed a two-way contract with the Suns in March. He appeared in four NBA games for Phoenix, averaging 3.3 PPG and 2.8 APG in 11.0 minutes per contest.
The Suns didn’t issue a qualifying offer to Lundberg last month, so he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Phoenix reportedly offered him a Summer League roster spot, but the 27-year-old said he didn’t want to accept that offer without getting any further guarantees, and instead opted to return to Denmark.
Home of Glory, which first reported that Virtus Bologna was pushing to sign Lundberg, stated that the veteran guard also received interest from several other European teams, including Fenerbahce in Turkey (Twitter link).
Although some reports have mentioned the Warriors as a possible suitor for Nets star Kevin Durant, Golden State doesn’t appear to have made “serious overtures” for the two-time Finals MVP, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. While Fischer hints that the two teams have at least talked, he says little traction has been generated.
The Heat, meanwhile, continue to focus on acquiring either Durant or Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell before moving on to other business. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell Fischer that Miami is prioritizing Durant over Mitchell.
Here’s more from Fischer:
- Knicks personnel have projected confidence that they’ll be able to acquire Mitchell without including RJ Barrett in their offer, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the Jazz may not be eager to give Barrett a lucrative long-term extension anyway.
- While both Barrett and Tyler Herro are considered candidates for maximum-salary rookie scale extensions, Fischer says NBA executives believe the Heat guard is a better bet than the Knicks forward to sign a new deal this offseason (rather than in 2023 free agency). “They always seem to pay their guys,” one assistant GM said of the Heat.
- According to Fischer, league personnel continue to classify Suns forwards Jae Crowder and Dario Saric as potential trade candidates. Both players are on expiring contracts for a Phoenix club whose team salary is now well above the tax line.
Of the players eligible for rookie scale extensions this offseason, Spurs forward Keldon Johnson became the first to sign a new deal worth less than the maximum. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link), Johnson’s new four-year contract will have a base value of $74MM, with $1.5MM in annual unlikely incentives that could push the total value of the deal to $80MM.
Johnson’s contract will serve as a point of comparison for many of the other extension-eligible players who will be negotiating with their respective teams this summer and fall, Fischer writes in a full story for Bleacher Report.
For instance, representatives for De’Andre Hunter figure to seek a similar deal for their client, though the Hawks may be reluctant to invest heavily in a player who has appeared in just 76 games in the last two seasons due to injuries. One cap strategist who spoke to Bleacher Report said Hunter’s injury concerns “are very real,” and sources tell Fischer that the 24-year-old and Atlanta are approximately $20MM apart in their discussions about a four-year extension.
Johnson’s extension with San Antonio is worth roughly the same amount annually as deals signed by sharpshooters like Davis Bertans, Duncan Robinson, and Joe Harris, and all four of those deals will be reference points when Cameron Johnson and the Suns discuss a new deal, according to Fischer, who suggests an extension for Johnson could easily surpass $15MM per year.
Here are a few more notes from Fischer on rookie scale extension candidates from around the NBA:
- There’s a sense that the Warriors may be best off waiting on an extension for Jordan Poole unless they can get a team-friendly rate this offseason, Fischer writes. “What’s the upside in locking him in now?” the team cap strategist said. “He’s not Luka Doncic or Donovan Mitchell, who’ve proven they can carry a team. He’s close. If he does it again, you pay him. But prior to this year he was a borderline rotation player.”
- Cap experts who spoke to Fischer believes that the Celtics‘ four-year extension for Robert Williams (worth $48MM, plus $6MM in incentives) will be a benchmark for their extension talks with Grant Williams. However, rival executives don’t think the C’s will want to spend much more on Grant than they did on Robert.
- The Trail Blazers and Nassir Little may both be motivated to work out a new deal this summer. As Fischer explains, Little could increase his value (and his price tag) in 2022/23 if he’s part of Portland’s new-look starting lineup, but his injury history might make him inclined to take a guaranteed payday sooner rather than later.
- There has been no traction on extension talks between the Sixers and Matisse Thybulle, sources tell Bleacher Report. Fischer also classifies Bulls guard Coby White as a player who is unlikely to sign an extension before the season.
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.”
JULY 18: The Suns have officially re-signed Ayton, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic tweets via a team press release.
“Deandre is a force at both ends of the floor, who has elevated his game every year and will continue to do so,” GM James Jones said in a statement. “DA is so important to what we do and without him we could not have reached our recent levels of success.”
JULY 14, 7:28pm: The Suns have indeed opted to match the Pacers’ offer sheet for Ayton, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Ayton’s four-year deal is fully guaranteed, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube video link).
As detailed below, Ayton is now ineligible to be traded until January 15, and will possess veto power over any trade after that until next July.
With the new Ayton deal on their books, the Suns are facing a projected $32MM tax penalty for the 2022/23 season, per Marks (via Twitter).
7:10pm: Ayton has now signed his offer sheet with the Pacers, starting the clock for the Suns to match, Woj reports (via Twitter).
2:54pm: The Suns haven’t shown any inclination to work out a sign-and-trade with Indiana for Ayton, but they are expected to match the offer sheet once Ayton signs it, sources tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
2:02pm: The Pacers are signing restricted free agent Deandre Ayton to a four-year, $133MM offer sheet, his agents Nima Namakian and Bill Duffy tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Once Ayton inks the deal, the Suns will have 48 hours to match the largest offer sheet in league history, Wojnarowski adds. ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets that Phoenix technically has until 11:59pm ET on Saturday to match the deal.
Sign-and-trades are not permissible once an offer sheet has been signed, so a potential swap for Pacers center Myles Turner is off the table once Ayton signs the deal. As Marks notes, if the Suns match the offer sheet, Ayton will have the ability to veto any trade starting January 15, which is when he’d be trade-eligible. He also cannot be traded to Indiana for a year.
However, in a follow-up tweet, Marks says that because Ayton hasn’t put pen to paper yet, the Suns and Pacers have until midnight ET to work out a possible sign-and-trade that might be mutually beneficial. What Indiana might get out of that arrangement is unclear.
John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Phoenix reports (Twitter links) that Ayton’s agents had been waiting for the right moment when they thought the Suns wouldn’t match an offer. The Pacers have no interest in a sign-and-trade, according to Gambadoro, who says Indiana knows the Suns don’t want to give Ayton — or any other center — a max deal.
According to Wojnarowski, the Suns never made Ayton a formal offer in free agency. Ayton’s agents told the team they’d be able to find a max offer, and now the Pacers are putting the Suns to the test.
As Marks observes (via Twitter), the Pacers technically can’t sign Ayton without making moves to clear additional cap space. They need to clear another $4.7MM to reach Ayton’s first-year starting salary of $30.9MM in 2022/23, so more maneuvers are imminent.
Marks noted in a recent appearance on 107.5 The Fan that the Pacers have multiple pathways to clear the needed cap space, as James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star relayed. Once those moves are made, they cannot be reversed if Phoenix decides to match.
Ayton, who turns 24 on July 23, was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft. In 58 games last season (29.5 MPG), the 6’11” center averaged 17.2 PPG and 10.2 RPG while shooting 63.4% from the floor and 74.6% from the line.
Ayton holds career averages of 16.3 PPG and 10.5 RPG in 236 regular season games (30.7 MPG). He was a key component of the Suns’ run to the NBA Finals in ’20/21, averaging 15.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG and 1.1 BPG in 22 postseason games (36.4 MPG).
An excellent finisher around the basket with a soft touch, Ayton has developed into a very solid defensive player over the past couple of years, anchoring Phoenix’s third-ranked defense last season. However, some have been critical about his shortcomings, mainly that he doesn’t get to the free throw line much despite a muscular frame.
The Pacers have been repeatedly linked to Ayton over the past several weeks, and clearly that interest did not wane.
If the Suns match, they project to be a taxpaying team, something owner Robert Sarver has consistently avoided during his tenure. If they don’t, Myles Turner seems very likely to be headed out of Indiana.
It also complicates Phoenix’s pursuit of Kevin Durant, since the Suns will lose Ayton as a possible trade chip. Even if they match the offer, as was previously noted, Ayton can’t be traded until January 15 and can veto any deal for a full year.
The Suns matched the Pacers’ four-year, $133MM offer sheet to keep Deandre Ayton in Phoenix, but some mending is still needed between the two sides, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during an appearance on NBA Today (video link).
Wojnarowski specifically mentioned coach Monty Williams and star guard Chris Paul, two key pieces of the Suns’ team, as figures who could help smooth things over with Ayton. Phoenix dealt with chemistry issues related to the former No. 1 overall pick toward the end of the season and ultimately lost to Dallas 4-3 in the second round.
For his part, Ayton averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game last season, helping the Suns achieve the league’s best record at 64-18. Phoenix also made the NBA Finals just in 2021, so the team should still be viewed as a title contender entering next season.
There’s more from the Western Conference tonight:
- Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscriber link) lists five reasons why the Suns shouldn’t give up on pursuing Nets superstar Kevin Durant despite matching the Pacers’ offer sheet for Ayton. Durant has proven he’s still a top-three player in the world, averaging 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game last season. That scoring mark was his highest since 2013/14 with Oklahoma City, when he won the league’s MVP award.
- The Mavericks signed veteran center JaVale McGee to a three-year, $17MM deal that contains a $6MM player option in the final season, Hoops Rumors has learned. McGee is expected to start alongside Christian Wood — who was also recently acquired by the team — to begin the season. McGee was one of the league’s best backup centers last season.
- Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee examines some summer league finale notes for the Kings. Sacramento defeated Houston on Saturday despite missing Keegan Murray and others, winning 92-81. The team was lead by Jeriah Horne‘s 20 points.
The Suns‘ decision to match Indiana’s offer sheet for Deandre Ayton may take them out of the bidding for Kevin Durant, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggests on his latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Real GM).
Ayton can’t be traded until January 15 and will have veto power over any deal for the next year. He was believed to be an important part of any package that Phoenix might offer the Nets for Durant.
“I think they have, and by the way they’re not alone… How do I want to put this? I think the position they’re taking is that they’ve made their offer for Kevin Durant. And their offer is their offer. And it’s not an offer that the Nets are interested in,” Windhorst said. “I’m not even sure the Suns can put together an offer that the Nets would be interested in by themselves. I think this is where the other teams are as well.”
Windhorst added that the Durant trade market is stagnant right now because all the interested teams are unwilling to come anywhere near Brooklyn’s asking price. He adds that the Pacers were trying to take advantage of the situation, gambling that Phoenix would either let Ayton go or agree to a sign-and-trade.
Although the Suns declined to offer Ayton a max extension when he was eligible, they were willing to bring him back under the terms of Indiana’s offer, possibly with an eye toward trading him later on.
“This is them partially saying ‘We’re not counting on Kevin Durant. We have a 64-win team. This is going to take us into the tax,'” Windhorst added.
Windhorst stated that the Suns should now be considered a longer shot to acquire Durant, although he doesn’t eliminate them entirely. He reported that the latest offer from Phoenix doesn’t include Mikal Bridges or the team’s full complement of future first-rounders and pick swaps.
The developments in Phoenix could affect Durant’s desire to join the Suns, ESPN’s Nick Friedell said in an appearance on “Get Up” this morning (video link). He adds that the Nets are hoping Durant might become more willing to start the season in Brooklyn and see how things work out.
Appearing on NBA Today on Wednesday (video link), ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said the Nets have been been “really turned off” by the offers they’ve received for Kevin Durant thus far.
“If some of the trade packages that have been floated to me are true, I agree with them, I think that they should expect more for Kevin Durant with four years left on his contract,” Windhorst said. “But the other teams in the league just don’t believe that the Nets have a lot of leverage here… and the offers they are making are reflective of that belief.”
As Windhorst details, the Nets are acting as though they’re fine with holding onto Durant into the season if acceptable offers aren’t presented. As of yesterday, Windhorst said that he wasn’t “sensing any traction” on a potential trade.
A source tells Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca that Brooklyn has an “unreasonably high” asking price for the star forward, and the Raptors have been unwilling to include Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes or the maximum amount of first-round picks in any Durant offer to this point. The two sides have had preliminary discussions regarding Durant, but nothing serious.
Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reports that there has been talk during Summer League indicating that the Suns have been reluctant to include Mikal Bridges in a package for Durant, which is part of the reason why there has been no headway on a deal. Those around the league refer to Bridges as the “key piece” in any offer.
Frankly, if those rumors are true, it sounds like Windhorst might be right about the lack of suitable offers for Durant.
If Bridges hasn’t been included, then the Suns aren’t serious about acquiring Durant at this stage. Bridges is a high-quality role player and a very good defender, but Durant is an all-time great.
The Raptors have other possible pieces to dangle, like Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr. and Precious Achiuwa — so their reluctance to include Barnes or the full complement of future first-rounders is more understandable. I don’t include Fred VanVleet in that group because I don’t think Toronto would consider moving him — he’s too important to the team’s culture, plus his on-court production improves nearly every season.
Even if he’s entering his age-34 season, Durant performed at an MVP-caliber level when he was healthy last season, averaging 29.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 6.4 APG on .518/.383/.910 shooting in 55 games (37.2 MPG). He’s a 12-time All-Star, a four-time scoring champion, has been named to 10 All-NBA teams, is a former MVP and a two-time Finals MVP — a résumé doesn’t get much more stacked than that.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t happy about Kevin Durant‘s trade request after signing an extension last season, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes.
Silver said that players need to “meet their end of the bargain” after a franchise provides them with long-term security.
“This needs to be a two-way street,” Silver said. “Teams provide enormous security and guarantees to players, and the expectation in return is that they’ll meet their end of the bargain. There’s always conversations that go on behind closed doors between players and representatives and teams, but we don’t like to see players requesting trades and we don’t like to see it playing out the way it is.”
Silver said there will be negotiations with the Players’ Association regarding possible remedies to discourage players from seeking a trade after signing multi-year contracts, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets.
“Its one of those issues that as we move into this collective bargaining cycle – we intend to discuss with our players association and see if there are remedies for this…We don’t want to see it playing out the way it is now,” he said.
Silver also addressed a number of other topics after the Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday:
- With load management increasing every season, Silver would be in favor of rewarding players contractually for playing more often. “I’m all in favor of guaranteed contracts,” he said. “But maybe that on top of your typical guaranteed contracts, some incremental money should be based on number of games played and results of those games.”
- He’s pleasantly surprised that league revenue topped $10 billion for the first time and basketball-related income reached a record $8.9 billion. “The numbers did surprise me to a certain degree because it exceeded projections, and the projections represent where we think our business is going,” Silver said. “I think it’s quite remarkable from where we came 2 1/2 years ago.”
- The league is nearing “the last stage” of its investigation into the conduct of Suns owner Robert Sarver, Reynolds tweets.
- Symptomatic persons will still test for COVID, but Silver could also see “pre-COVID protocols” becoming more of the norm again, Reynolds adds in another tweet.
- Silver favors the age limit for the draft dropping from 19 to 18, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets, and is “optimistic” that it could happen during the next collective bargaining cycle.