Suns News: Playoffs Edition

[Superbone]

Book is my dude
Book is our star

But man oh man......

This not been the best first week of Playoff ball for him. He just continues to struggle reading the Lakers D, doesn't matter who the primary is KCP/Caruso/Matthews
He still running himself into traps or getting his passes deflected and stolen.

One can really argue that of the U-25 Stars in the Playoffs, just about all the others (Luka, Tatum, Mitchell, Trae, Ja) and arguably even DA having more of an imprint on their series

2-2 means it's still kinda early days so there's time to make a real splash which ideally propels us further in the Playoffs

He's just going to have to learn from his mistakes. I have hope that he'll get there.

[ShelC]

I was never a great math student but Isola said when the Lakers went up 2-1 he didn't think they were coming back to Phoenix...but they were always coming back to Phoenix anyway?

[INFORMER]

I think he says going back to Phoenix tied.

[Superbone]

I think he says going back to Phoenix tied.

Yeah, he threw that in at the last second.

[ShelC]

True, missed that one completely. He kinda swallowed the word there.

WIlbon's a big Phoenix/CP/Monty fan so they've been getting a lot of airtime on PTI lately which is fun to see.

[JeremyG]

[ShelC]

So are we giving DA the max based on these playoffs?

[Superbone]

WIlbon's a big Phoenix/CP/Monty fan so they've been getting a lot of airtime on PTI lately which is fun to see.

I noticed that when Wilbon said, “my man, Chris Paul”.

[Flagrant Fowl]

So are we giving DA the max based on these playoffs?

It's a really precarious situation. He's absolutely deserved a max offer if we only look at his playoff performance. On the other hand, his game still needs a lot of development to be worthy of a max level contract for 365 days a year.

Giving today's version of Ayton the max wouldn't be a successful team building strategy because he'd be taking up too much of the cap. So there needs to be some honest evaluation about his development in the front office. How confident are they in Ayton becoming a reliable offensive co-star to Booker? Will he ever be able to create his own offense or will he always need to rely on teammates or offensive scheme to be effective?

[jonh]

So are we giving DA the max based on these playoffs?

I think it depends if the Suns make it out of the first round, and he maintains this level of play. If he keeps this up for 2+ rounds, then I think you have to max him at that point.

[Indy]

I have been saying for 18 months that someone will be giving him the max regardless of how he played. Now I think it is most likely we will be the team giving him the max. Not sure what Mikal's extension will be. I hope he earns a huge contract by his play in the Finals this year.

[INFORMER]

I don't see any reason to extend him this summer. Let him play out his final year of his rookie deal and match any offer he receives in 2022 offseason, or proactively sign him to a deal first.

[JeremyG]

I don't see any reason to extend him this summer. Let him play out his final year of his rookie deal and match any offer he receives in 2022 offseason, or proactively sign him to a deal first.

That didn't work out well with Joe Johnson.

[INFORMER]

Joe was a unique situation. He wanted to be the man and asked for us to not match the contract. We made the choice to let him leave, and were in the conference finals the following season.

So I don't think that is some cautionary tale for how to handle Ayton.

[ShelC]

I could see Ayton wanting to be the man somewhere else, thinking he's been sacrificing for the greater good in Phoenix playing off CP and Book and settling for their scraps.

[Shabazz]

I don't see any reason to extend him this summer. Let him play out his final year of his rookie deal and match any offer he receives in 2022 offseason, or proactively sign him to a deal first.

The risk is if he earns a max and a team gives him a 2+1 offer sheet and we lose him after 2 years instead of 4/5.

[Split T]

I don't see any reason to extend him this summer. Let him play out his final year of his rookie deal and match any offer he receives in 2022 offseason, or proactively sign him to a deal first.

Ya, if he wants a max, you make him earn it next year. He’s been great this playoff run, but he’s still not a featured part of the offense. He’s a finisher and he’s defended well, but even with how good he’s been, I don’t think he’s a max player as is. You’d still be counting on him turning into more of a featured player on offense if you max him. No reason to do that before he’s shown it.

[Mori Chu]

Eh, they're probably going to just max him this offseason, especially if we somehow end up beating the Lakers in this series. Ayton isn't just another player to this team; Sarver personally lobbied for us to draft him over Luka. His pride is tied up in this player being a superstar for us. He'll put all his chips on the table to keep Ayton.

[Split T]

I won’t be surprised if we do...but I hope we don’t. I am still a little worried at what Ayton becomes after he gets paid...I think he’s showing he’s better than Andre Drummond...but a similar situation still worries me. Drummond had been traded for a 2nd rounder and bought out in the last two years because his contract was so bad.

[Indy]

Yeah, should we? No. We should wait a year. But I bet we will.

It would be great if we could work out a VERY front loaded extension with Paul and no extend DA/Mikal until next year after a huge chunk of Paul's contract goes away.