Deandre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns failed to agree on a max extension last week which has left the big man slightly irritated after several other players from the 2018 Draft class got paid handsomely this offseason. While Ayton will be out to prove a point this season, Chris Paul offered some insight to the former first overall pick on how he can get that big payday from the Suns.
“With D.A. and his situation, we talked about it,” Paul told Yahoo Sports. “He knows what he has to do. The goal for everybody is to see everyone getting paid. His situation is what it is, but it’s going to work out for him. We hope it works out for him. The biggest thing we know we can do is go out there and win games.”
The straight-up truth. If the Suns go out and make a statement this season again with Ayton playing a big part, the organization will have no choice but to reward him. CP3 also discussed how failed contract negotiations can also have an impact on the team because of a player's inner circle:
“Sometimes it can be an outsider, sometimes it can be family members, it can be homies, it can be friends and a lack of communication,” Paul said. “When I played for Doc [Rivers], he used to talk about clutter a lot. Monty [Williams] talks about it, too. When you lose a game and you go home, a lot of times everybody in your family thinks it’s everybody else’s fault that you lost. I’ll never forget Doc saying that. It makes sense.”
Although we don't know if this is the case between Ayton and the Suns, it definitely makes sense. Ultimately, they believe that he hasn't quite proven that he's worth that $173 million extension.
The 23-year-old was brilliant in Phoenix's run to the NBA Finals, but he hasn't done it over the course of an entire season quite yet. This is the time for Ayton to make his presence felt and if not, we could see him move on from the Suns next summer when he becomes a restricted free agent.
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