Mikael Bridges reached an early renewal with the Suns for 4 years and 90 million, with an annual salary of more than 20 million, which is the market for 3D players in the market today.
Their balance at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, their adaptability to be compatible with all lineups, and their scarcity in the market all determine their value.
Bridges became the 7th player in the 18th rookie to complete an early contract extension. The top 6 are: Doncic, Blowy, Alexander, Porter Jr., Wendell Carter and Lowe.
Looking back, 18 years is undoubtedly a big year in the NBA history, not only high-level rookies, but also many players with low picks have also occupied a place in the team, such as the Bucks' DiVincienzo, the Spurs' Lonnie Walker, the Eagles' Hult, the Lone Ranger's Bronson and so on.
But the interesting thing about this beautiful talk is that Ayton, who is the leader of 2018, has not yet been renewed in advance.
In fact, it is not that the Sun did not give Ayton an early offer, the Sun reported it, but Ayton did not agree with the offer. What Ayton wants is the same top salary as his peers, that is, 172.5 million in 5 years, and if he meets certain conditions, he can get an offer of 200 million in 5 years.
If you go back a year, when Ayton was still a Dunbao, saying that he wanted a top salary, everyone would only laugh at his toad yawning - such a big breath. But after last season, everything changed.
As the leader of the 18th term, how can there be no dim sum, Ayton has never considered himself worse than others. The fact of last season was that he was the first of the 18 rookies to reach the Finals as a core player, earlier than Doncic, Blowing Young, Alexander and Porter.
So in Ayton's point of view, these people can get the top salary, why can't I? I've played thick eyebrows, defended against teachers, killed the Clippers, and often had to play letters in the Finals, am I worse than them? Or what?
But from another perspective, I can also understand why the Sun seems so entangled when it gives Ayton the maximum salary.
First of all, Ayton is a big man, and the other top-paid players in the 18th class are all the offensive core of the outside, even if Porter Jr., who stands in the fourth position, is also a complete outside offensive player, and the Nuggets obviously want to train him in the direction of Durant.
In the concept of modern basketball, the status of the inside player is inferior to the outside player, you only need to look at the number of outside and inside players in the all-star every year to know, or compare the salary of the inside and outside players.
Secondly, Ayton is a big finalist, which means that the main source of his score is to eat cake, and he can't launch a large-scale attack like José and Embiid. Although he has a certain proportion of mid-range shots, his offensive skills are also much worse than those of a single attack and defense demon like Thick Brow.
I believe that if Ayton were the type of three big men above, the Sun would not hesitate to offer a top salary. Compared to them, Ayton appears more like a blue-collar center, which is where the Suns boss mainly struggles.
But even though Heyon, Embiid, and Thick Brow are different, Ayton is still unique. You don't look at his offense, eat the pie thing, more than 80% of the center forwards on the market can do it, but he supports the entire defensive system of the Suns, and with him, no one can easily enter the Suns' penalty area.
Or simply rough, you let the Sun find another one that can match the thick eyebrows and letters, can prevent the teacher who just got the MVP, and can face the Clippers' small lineup is not so bad big center, can he find it?
I've always emphasized two things:
First, Ayton was the most important player to reach the finals last year, and the most important thing is not to say that he is the best, but to say that he is irreplaceable. Paul and Booker can still replace each other in some way, but at Ayton's point, the sun is the only one;
Second, look at the value of a player, you can't just look at his ability, you have to put him in the market, put it in the team system, in order to accurately assess the value of this player at the current stage.
Therefore, Ayton asking the Suns for the top salary is not a sky-high price for no reason, and Ayton's offensive end is more inclined to the no-ball play, which is also very suitable for the Suns' overall offensive system. Assuming that Ayton is also a big center with the ball, his run-in with Paul and Booker may not be as good as it is now.
Even in the playoffs, when Holliday and Middleton are on the outside, he has to go more to the no-ball ending. A ball of three people is bound to be sacrificed, and two people are fine.
In addition, Ayton is an integral part of the future of the sun. As can be seen from Paul's contract, this summer Paul and the Suns signed a 4-year, 120 million contract, but the full guarantee is only for the next two seasons, the 23-24 season is 15 million guarantee, and the 24-25 season is the team option.
So the Suns' confidence in Paul's body is actually only retained until the 22-23 season, that is, in the next two seasons, the Suns will go all out to win the championship, which is the best window period for them at present.
Can you imagine the Suns' road to the top without Ayton, or a Eiton with energy involved in contract extensions?
Once this happens, the Suns' new season will be extremely variable. Because in competitive sports, people are the biggest variable, but the Suns should be one of the most stable teams in the West.
Further, after Paul is completely old, the Suns still want to remain competitive, but do they have to rely on the three young people of Booker, Ayton and Bridges?
If you don't bet on Ayton, who else can the sun bet on?
The Sun hasn't paid a luxury tax in 12 full years, and in this day and age, if you don't want to be a fish belly, a luxury tax is an inevitable part.
Thanks for reading it all!