Today Bridges and the Suns reached a four-year, $90 million contract extension, and the amount is fully guaranteed. Bridges, who was in a good mood, posted Paul's memes directly on Twitter to celebrate his big contract.
As the No. 10 show of 2018, Bridges is 201cm tall, 228cm arm span, and ages 25. As a high-quality 3D, Big Joe can cut and defend with three points and a hand distance, making him the perfect choice for the Suns forward. The three years have improved significantly, with Big Joe's scoring rising from single digits to ten figures and shooting percentages steadily rising.
Bridges played in 72 regular season games for the Suns last season, averaging 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three-point range; and playing in 22 playoff games, averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists, shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.
Bridges' performance, the Sun also saw the eyes, with such an average annual contract of $22.5 million to renew his contract. And this contract is also in line with everyone's expectations for Bridges, because some sources in the league previously expected that Bridges' new contract was about $20 million. The sun really picked up a big bargain, and locked in this high-quality 3D with more than 20 million in advance.
After the Suns got Bridges' contract, it meant that Bridges officially entered the ranks of high salaries, leaving Ayton in the wind messy...
Ayton's heart ached! Lao Zitang's 2018 champion show, the reason why the Suns were able to reach the finals last season, Ayton contributed a lot. The first round of the playoffs shouldered thick eyebrows, the second round tore Jokic apart, the West final stepped on Zubac, and the Finals were crowned with Lopez. Dumbo averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game, no better than that Bridges?
Why did the Suns hesitate to renew Ayton's contract?
1, Ayton deserves a top salary
There is no doubt that Ayton is worth the top salary, he was a key figure in the Suns' finals last season, and he provided a lot of help to the team at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. Ayton averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in the playoffs last season, shooting 65.8 percent from the field. When he was guarding the box, the opponent shot 15% more than usual from within 6 feet of the basket. In the Finals against the Bucks, as long as Ayton went off, the Suns conceded 10.2 points per 100 rounds.
In terms of playoff performance, the 23-year-old is worth a top salary of more than $170 million for five years, which is not too much in today's market.
2, Ayton stability is not enough
Before Paul came to the Suns, Ayton had been criticized for being soft. As a center with a height of 211cm, Ayton is afraid of confrontation, can jump shots without baskets, can go to the basket without dunks, low offensive desire, like Wiggins's health basketball.
After the regular season last season, if Ayton can get a maximum salary, I am afraid most fans will not believe it. It was in the playoffs that Ayton suddenly opened up and began to show his toughness in front of the fans. But the regular season may be more informative than the short playoffs, and if Ayton continues to do what he did in last season' regular season, it is impossible to get the Suns' top salary.
3) The Sun has no room to provide Ayton with a maximum salary
The Suns hesitated over Ayton's contract extension and ultimately didn't offer Ayton a maximum salary. That's why Bridges' contract extension was released earlier than Ayton's. This sends a signal that the Suns will not renew Ayton's contract early for the time being. But if you wait until Bridges and Paul's contract comes into effect, the Suns simply won't have room to give Ayton a maximum salary.
By the 22-23 season, Paul's annual salary is 28.4 million, Bridges is 22.5 million, Booker is 33.83 million, and the salaries of these three people alone are nearly 85 million. For example, Crowder also wants 10 million, Cameron Johnson also needs at least 10 million annual salary, what about other basic salary players? It costs money!
So the Suns don't have room to pay Ayton's top salary, because the Suns haven't paid the luxury tax for 12 years, and if Ayton is paid the maximum salary, it will pay taxes from the 22-23 season. If the boss is willing to pay money, the current lineup must win the championship before the 22-23 season, otherwise the Suns are unlikely to give Ayton a maximum salary.
4. Ayton is fungible
Although today's big men are not as popular as defenders or forwards, good big men are still scarce. Although Ayton shined in this year's playoffs, with good rim protection, defensive changes and pie eating, how does he compare to Capela?
Ayton is similar to Capela in that he plays as a center. Capela averaged 15.3 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in the regular season last season, the first in the league in rebounds, and the Hawks only signed Capela with a 2-year, 46 million contract in the offseason. And Ayton is younger than Capela, is it really worth 10 million more per year?
It is true that Ayton does have some self-propelled offensive ability, but if Capela is put in the sun, it is not necessarily worse than Ayton!
5, the sun boss does not want to pay for his mistakes anymore
On October 12, Tim Mac Mahon reported that when the draft was drafted, it was entirely the decision of Suns boss Savo to sign Ayton. At that time, the team's manager was Kokoshkov, who hoped the team would choose Doncic and then offer Capela a big contract in the free agent market. Savo wanted to sign Ayton with the title, because Ayton has a high popularity in Phoenix, and savo is a university alumnus, both from the University of Arizona.
Doncic was so good that Savo regretted that he didn't have to sign Doncic at that time. Of course, Ayton is not bad, but in general, Ayton is much inferior to Doncic, and the Sun boss is just not willing to pay for his mistakes anymore, which is a bit of a slap in the face.
All of the above may be the reason why the Suns do not give the maximum salary Ayton, but Ayton should not worry about the next home, even if the Suns do not give the maximum salary, other teams will also give the maximum salary.