The first champion to receive an insulting qualification offer! Is Ayton really that bad?

The NBA offseason has come, and the trade market and contract extension market have also opened up. While other players are busy renewing their contracts, Ayton, the Suns' leading center, is not happy. As the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, Ayton has ended his rookie contract, and the Suns did not choose to re-sign Ayton, but offered him an insulting qualification offer of 16.4 million a year. This offer allowed Ayton to break two historical records. One was the largest qualifying offer contract in NBA history, and the other was that Ayton was the first No. 1 player to receive a qualifying offer. Why is this qualification offer insulting? Let's go into detail.

According to NBA regulations, when a rookie player ends a 4-year rookie contract, the parent team has a limited right to renew the contract and can provide a super-max salary contract with an annual increase of 8% for up to 5 years. The rookies in the first class with Ayton, such as Doncic, Trae Young and other outstanding players, have already signed a 5-year super maximum salary early, but the Suns have been slow to renew Ayton, resulting in Ayton's rookie contract is over and he's now a restricted free agent. After the Suns provide this qualification offer, if other teams offer Ayton a contract that is greater than this qualification offer, the Suns have the right to give priority to matching the contract, that is, the Suns can be said to use the same offer as other teams. The contract signed Ayton, and it was mandatory, and Ayton could not refuse. But other teams can offer Ayton up to a 4-year max salary contract with an annual increase of 5%, which is still quite a bit different from the super max salary.

The wishful thinking of the Suns is very good. They gave this qualification offer to pretend that they are not interested in Ayton, and let the teams that are interested in Ayton offer him an ordinary maximum salary or even A contract with an annual salary of about 20 million, and then the Sun will match the contract, making Ayton dumb to eat Huanglian. But there is also a possibility that no other team will offer Ayton, so that after Ayton executes the next year's 16.4 million contract, he will become a complete free agent and can choose the team at will, the Suns will never again priority. However, this possibility is actually very small, and there is a high probability that a team will still offer Ayton and let the sun take advantage of the fisherman.

For the previous No. 1 pick and even the lottery pick, the team will generally offer a contract extension before the rookie contract expires. And it is the first time in NBA history that a top pick like the Suns has offered a qualification offer, so for Ayton, such a situation is indeed an insult, so is Ayton really that bad?

In his 4-year career, Ayton averaged 16.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1 block in 30.7 minutes per game. He shot 59.9% from the field. He played 236 games in his 4-year career, averaging 59 games per season, and his attendance rate was not bad. . In the playoffs, Ayton averaged 16.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1 block in 34.2 minutes per game, and shot 65.1% from the field. His performance in the playoffs was also very good. Although Ayton has not won any personal honors except for the best rookie first team in his 4-year career, he has not been selected for the All-Star and the best team, but this year, Ayton, who is only 23 years old, has more than an annual salary of 1,000 in terms of strength and potential. multi-million level.

Although Ayton has almost no three-point shooting ability, his mid-range shooting is very good. His soft touch and the advantage of height and arm length make his mid-range offense almost unstoppable. Ayton's offense at the basket The skills are also very skilled, and the coverage on the defensive end is also very wide, and can even defend near the three-point line. Last season, Ayton ranked 4th in the league in points per game with 13.2 points per game, 12th in the league in plus-minus 5.9, 6th in the league with 11.4 shots per game, 10th in offensive efficiency at 117.2, and 10th in defensive efficiency at 107.7. No. 88, better than All-Star forward Embiid. When opponents face Ayton's shooting, the shooting rate will be 4.1% lower than usual, of which the two-point shooting rate is reduced by 5.9% and the three-point shooting rate is reduced by 2.6%, which is enough to see Ayton's defensive deterrence. In addition, Ayton's shooting percentage in the face of close defense is as high as 60.4%. It can also be seen that Ayton is not afraid of confrontation.

It is such an excellent 23-year-old center player, he still has huge potential, and is likely to continue to improve in the future, but the Suns are not willing to give him a maximum salary contract, but choose to give him a qualification offer. . You must know that the league has hundreds of millions of contracts flying all over the sky. Players such as Harris, Russell, and Fox can all receive an annual salary of 30 million. For Ayton, such a qualification offer is indeed a big deal. insult.

Even if the Suns can succeed and sign Ayton at a low price to match other teams' contracts, I believe Ayton's heart no longer belongs here, and it is estimated that his relationship with the team's management has been difficult to get together. what you think?