Phoenix Suns - Weekly Roundup - Week 0
- Matt Elvy
- Oct 19, 2021
- 4 min read
Join us as we review the highs and lows of the last week, as well as previewing the week ahead.
Week 0: Off-Season & Pre-Season
The NBA is back & the Suns are back. In today's edition of the roundup I'll be covering my thoughts about the off-season and the pre-season.
Ok, let's get this out the way. Robert Sarver is an idiot (and that's a polite way of putting it). Yesterday (18th Oct) was the deadline to extend the rookie contract for players drafted in the 2018 draft and he DID NOT offer Deandre Ayton a max contract ($172 million over 5 years). According to Brian Windhorst "the organization didn't believe Ayton was a max player". That's just absurd.
I just can't get my head around the decision not to offer the max to the number 1 pick, who has shown improvement every year he's been in the league, a top-10 centre in only his 3rd/4th year and a key component to our Finals. What an absolute slap in the face to Deandre Ayton.
After all the hard work that James Jones and Monty Williams have done over the past 2-3 years to improve the reputation of this team, with players around the NBA commenting on it, Sarver has just swooped in again to mess it all up. This isn't the first time Sarver has done this, listen to Amare in this clip from the All the Smoke pod (watch 39:45 to 40:40). Luckily Ayton will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
And there lies the crux of it in my opinion.
I know, you know & Sarver knows that Ayton is a max player, but he's such a tight-arse that he doesn't want to pay out. Sarver is going to let DA sign a max offer sheet with another team and simply match it. Why would he do this? Because the maximum that another team can offer is around $120 million over 4 years aka at least $50 million staying in his own pockets.
This is going to be a cloud over the team and fanbase all season and I'm worried about the long-term damage this has had on DA's relationship with the Suns and the organizations reputation around the league.
Now, let's get on to the rest of the off-season, which spoiler alert was all positive.
The NBA draft on 29th July saw the Suns trade their only pick along with fan-favourite, Jevon Carter to the Brooklyn Nets for Landry Shamet. We all love Jevon, but even when we had Chris Paul down with injuries in the Playoffs, he stayed firmly stuck to the bench, as he couldn't crack Monty Williams' rotation. Jevon is a great defender and a very much improved spot-up 3-point shooter, but the Suns needed another on-ball creator and they now have that in Landry Shamet. He has shown in his 1st 3 seasons that he is a fantastic 3-point shooter and an underrated shot-creator. He simply hasn't been asked to do too much of that on his previous 3 stops in the NBA. The Suns feel so confident in the acquisition that they have given him a 4-year $43 million rookie contract extension.
As free agency opened, the Suns quickly took care of a couple of their internal signings, giving Cam Payne a 3-year $19 million deal. Most of us were expecting him to fetch $10 mil+, but Payne is a loyal lad and re-signed.
Next and the most important re-signing (though some will question that with the latest Ayton news), Chris Paul. Paul signed a 4-year extension potentially worth $120 million, however the contract has less and less guaranteed money the further you get in to the deal.
Great new for Mikal Bridges, he and the team came to terms on his rookie contract extension, to the tune of 4 years $90 million. So happy for Mikal and extremely glad he won't be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
We also re-signed Abdel Nader and Frank Kaminsky, then welcomed back Elfrid Payton, who you may remember had a short stint with us in 2018. Is he now the best 3rd-string PG in the NBA?
Then, the free agent signing I've been calling for, for a couple of off-seasons - JAVALE MCGEE!
Pre-Season:
The Suns looked good in pre-season games. Devin Booker only played in the final game, following his time off with Covid. The silver lining to this is it allowed Shamet to start in the other games, allowing him plenty of minutes with the rest of the starting line-up.
Shamet looked good in the games, showing off his shooting, as well as handling some play making duties as well.
McGee fit in seamlessly, catching lobs, throwing down dunks and blocking shots. He's going to be so valuable to us in the 10-15 minutes he'll get behind Ayton this year.
Upcoming Games:
It's opening week for the NBA and we'll be facing the Nuggets, Lakers and Trailblazers to kick things off.
Nuggets will be at home in Phoenix, then Lakers & Trailblazers will be on the road.
I'm predicting that we win all 3 of these games. Denver are still without Jamal Murray, the Lakers will still be trying to fit all their new pieces together and the Blazers just looked awful in pre-season.
Any Other Business:
The Season
Enjoy it guys and gals. This team was awesome last year and it only improved over the Summer. Here's hoping that the Ayton contract stuff doesn't distract too much.
Go On My Suns!
I will be back with season 2 of Go On My Suns!
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