Deandre Ayton’s agent: ‘We’re disappointed. We wanted a max contract’

After the Suns declined to sign Ayton to a five-year, rookie-scale max extension before the 2021-22 season, restricted free agency is now on the horizon for the athletic big man. During the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, Ayton’s agent Bill Duffy discussed Ayton’s future on SiriusXM’s NBA show. “We’re disappointed. We wanted a max contract,” Duffy said. “He went out and was a solider the whole year, played well, improved his statistics. So, we’re proud of him. A lot of guys handle things differently, but he was very mature about it. Things will work out for Deandre. He’s a valuable player. There’s other teams in the league as well. He’s a restricted free agent, so we’ll see how this process unfolds.”
Source: Evan Sidery @ basketballnews.com

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Bill Simmons @BillSimmons
New BS Podcast w/ @Ryen Russillo
—Happy Andrew WigginsDay!
—Curry and the Finals Thing
—Notes from a bizarre Game 3 in Boston
—PJ Tucker, semi-unicorn
—Grant Williams cracks us up
—A midseason tournament would work… how?
—The best Ayton trade is… ?
open.spotify.com/episode/29IbMN… – 1:30 AM

Krishna Narsu @knarsu3
Top 5 + 1 in Short Mid-Range FG% in the playoffs with a minimum of 50 shot attempts:
1. Jokic 68.97% (58)
2. Steph 60.66% (61)
3. CP3 57.41% (54)
4. Ayton 54.43% (79)
5. Jimmy Buckets 50% (60)
6. Luka 49.47% (95) – 8:49 PM

Alex Kennedy @AlexKennedyNBA
Getting equal value back in a sign-and-trade is very difficult. @esidery explored some sign-and-trade ideas for Deandre Ayton below.
My takeaway? The Suns need to re-sign Ayton (either to keep him long-term or deal him later when he has more trade value): basketballnews.com/stories/examin… – 8:54 PM

Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
“Things will work out for Deandre. He’s a valuable player and there’s other teams in the league as well”
Longtime NBA Agent Bill Duffy tells @TermineRadio & @Eddie Johnson what the future holds for his client, Deandre Ayton, as he heads into restricted free agency pic.twitter.com/h1I5MWUjd8 – 8:05 PM

Chris Vernon @ChrisVernonShow
Looney is doing what Gobert and Ayton couldn’t pull off enough
– totally punish Mavs for bein small. – 11:10 PM

Vincent Goodwill @VinceGoodwill
Somewhere, Mr. Ayton is saying, “Give me the rock and I could’ve done that.” – 11:08 PM

Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
Kevon Looney is proof that you shouldn’t pay Deandre Ayton the bag. – 10:33 PM

Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton each got 1 Second Team vote for All-Defense.
Chris Paul got 2 First Team votes and 17 Second Team votes, while Patrick Beverley got 1 First Team vote and 7 Second Team votes.
Not bad for a cone pic.twitter.com/hLZpOQ25vm – 8:35 PM

Kellan Olson @KellanOlson
Chris Paul received two votes for First Team All-Defense and 17 for the second team. Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton each got one for the second team – 8:31 PM

Duane Rankin @DuaneRankin
Chris Paul received two first-place votes and 17 second-place votes while Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton each received one second-place vote. #Suns pic.twitter.com/CkTU8OzEQw – 8:30 PM

More on this storyline

SiriusXM NBA Radio: “Things will work out for Deandre. He’s a valuable player and there’s other teams in the league as well” Longtime NBA Agent Bill Duffy tells @termineradio & @Eddie Johnson what the future holds for his client, Deandre Ayton, as he heads into restricted free agency -via Twitter @SiriusXMNBA / May 19, 2022

Then there’s Deandre Ayton. The talented 23-year-old big man has averaged a double-double in each of his four NBA seasons – and someone Shaquille O’Neal said the Suns should give “what he wants” this summer. “Had a great year, just one of those nights,” said O’Neal as Ayton finished in Sunday’s Game 7 against Dallas with a career playoff-low five points on 2-of-5 shooting. “Phoenix had a great year, just one of those nights. This is a classy organization. This is a classy team. Can’t say bad things about them. They played hard. Again, even great players have one of those nights.” -via Arizona Republic / May 19, 2022

O’Neal, and fellow TNT NBA analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley discussed Ayton’s future with the Suns after the top overall seed was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in Sunday’s Game 7 in Phoenix. “You’ve got to re-sign Ayton,” Barkley said. -via Arizona Republic / May 19, 2022