Deandre Ayton – Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker and Chris Paul are going to get all the credit for the Phoenix Suns winning the Western Conference and making the NBA Finals last season, but Deandre Ayton deserves a ton of credit for the way he played too. In the postseason, Ayton played nearly 36 minutes per game and averaged 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and shot 65.8% from the floor.
Every time the Suns needed a stop defensively or needed a bucket, Deandre Ayton was the guy to get the job done for Phoenix, which is why he is starting to live up to the hype of being the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
If there was any doubt surrounding Ayton and his play, it is now gone after he played such a big role on a team that came two wins shy of winning a title.
He is the third best player on the Suns’ roster behind both Paul and Booker, but when you look at his value to the Suns, you could make an argument that Deandre Ayton is the most important player on this roster. The 23-year-old center is eligible for a five-year max deal worth upwards of $168M and it is not crazy to believe that he will get this offer from Phoenix in the coming months.
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Ayton is entering the final year of his rookie contract and while his scoring output declined during the regular season last year, he has still averaged a double-double each year he has been in the league and his shooting percentage is increasing.
Deandre Ayton has become a pivotal two-way threat at the center position in this league and right now, you could make an argument that he is a Top-5 center in this league alongside Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, and Bam Adebayo.
Along with Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges is also up for a contract extension as he enters the final year of his rookie deal as well. Bridges is up for the same kind of extension as Ayton, a five-year, upwards of $168M deal, but he likely will not see as much money as Ayton.
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The 25-year-old wing has quickly turned into one of the better young two-way wings in this league and seeing as Aaron Gordon just got $92M over four years, Bridges could very well see a similar deal or even upwards of $110M.
In order to keep their young core, the Phoenix Suns are going to have to open up their checkbooks because they have some really talented players on this team! They may have lost to the Milwaukee Bucks this past year in the NBA Finals, but the Phoenix Suns are not going anywhere anytime soon.
