When the Kings decided to remove Marvin Bagley III from their rotation to open the season, agent Jeff Schwartz took the unusual step of issuing a statement to call out the team for its handling of his client. However, head coach Luke Walton doesn’t expect the public nature of the dispute between the team and agent to be a distraction for his players.
“Nope, not with our group,” Walton said, according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “We’ve got a tight group. We’ve talked about it, whether it’s trades from last year or anything else, we don’t concern ourselves with outside issues. We’re a tight group. You can ask any of the players. They believe in what we’re doing and they’re working hard and we’re in a good place.”
The Kings used just nine players in their opening-night win over Portland on Wednesday, with Richaun Holmes and Tristan Thompson sharing the minutes at center, while Harrison Barnes and Maurice Harkless handled power forward duties.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Fourth-year center Deandre Ayton admitted he was “obviously” disappointed not to reach a rookie scale extension agreement with the Suns by Monday’s deadline, but said on Wednesday that playing on an expiring contract won’t bother him, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic relays. “I’m still trying to get us back to the Finals. I’ve still got to represent the team and myself as well. I’m just a competitor, man,” Ayton said. “Just like to compete to the best and every time I’m in between those lines, that’s what you’re going to see out of me. Nothing else.”
- Sam Vecenie of The Athletic loved the Suns‘ four-year, $90MM deal with Mikal Bridges, but was baffled by the decision not to extend Ayton. While general manager James Jones said Phoenix would have done a three- or four-year max, three high-ranking executives in other organizations told Vecenie they would’ve been willing to offer the big man a fifth year.
- Gary Payton II‘s new minimum-salary contract with the Warriors includes a $350K partial guarantee, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). Payton, who was waived and re-signed within the last week, would have received a $659K partial guarantee if he had made the opening-night roster on his previous deal. By cutting him and then bringing him back, Golden State saved some money while still rewarding Payton for making the team.
- Connor Letourneau of The San Francisco Chronicle explores how the Warriors are adjusting their approach to James Wiseman‘s development in the center’s second NBA season.
I agree with those who didn’t feel comfortable giving Ayton a 5th year but at the same time, I would have. It’s the cost of doing business. He is definitely a big piece of the team and I think they really hurt themselves by letting him play on an expiring. If he is anything like he was last year especially in the playoffs some team is going to offer him a huge number the suns are going to have to match.
Maybe Ayton is involved in a trade mid-season. Indiana and Turner a possibility?
Any other team can only offer 4 years with 5% raises, instead of the 5 years with 8% raises Phoenix has refused to offer. So from a purely financial viewpoint they are certainly not going to regret it whatever happens: even if he got a huge offer sheet this summer, it would be significantly smaller than the 5 year max. The real risk here is Ayton becoming disgruntled. But if they manage to handle that, they will certainly be better off by not offering him the 5th year.
Could regret it if he wouldnt have gotten super max language but now does and qualifies up to 207M/5 instead of 174M/5 or whatever it was.
Anyway, the supermax is something only Phoenix can offer. So if they limit themselves to match an offer sheet, that wouldn’t be an issue either. The only potential problem would be Ayton signing his QO and becoming unrestricted one year later, but that would be extremely unusual.
Calling it now, 1 game in. Kings will make the playoffs
Great showing by Holmes and Barnes. Fox all-star ’22?
Call me when you get buckets on anyone but POR defense…
I chickened out of making the Kings the No. 8 seed in my preseason predictions after penciling them in there initially. Overreacting to one game is silly, but… I’m sorta wishing I’d stuck with my gut! Love the Mitchell addition.
Mitchell as much as anyone drafted is worth wins quickly.
IMO Kings would not benefit from trading for Simmons very much, but could trade Fox without hurting much more than previous year’s marketing, assuming say Ayton is the return.
Going off what happened in the first games of the season it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see a team like Sacramento or Minnesota sneak into the playoffs, or at minimum make it to the play-in tournament.
Minnesota could get into the playoffs. Edwards is looking like a future all star. He now has a outside shot which makes him much harder to guard.
The Kings looked better without Bagley on the court. The ball movement and team quickness / defense were much better. Not a fan of Walton, but our rotation looked much improved with decent depth. I liked what I saw, but feel we’ll struggle against longer teams (ex. The nuggets) until we get more forward depth.
Yeah, you should be excited or at least optimistic. Haliburton didn’t shine, but you guys looked both fun and competitive. Good luck this year
That ain’t no rocket science that several other execs wouldn’t have had any issue giving Ayton the fifth year!
I mean seriously is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard, even from a bad GM like Jones…
Ayton ain’t an old man he is young I would give him the 5 & if I could 6 or 7… now other guys like Lillard, Beal, Harden & this type of players I would definitely offer them the max, but only for 2-3 years at their age.
Someone in his early 20’s you can offer as many years as possible with the max $, someone in his late 20’s or early 30’s you just give them as few years as possible with the max $!
But there you are how PHO due to bad ownership & FO they just shoot themselves in the foot!
LOL. The only executives that would have actually offered a 5 year max to Ayton in this situation are incompetent. I wonder if they expressed their view on this to the team owner, so he knows that he hired someone who in the same situation would be willing to give away additional luxury tax (which the owner, not the executive, pays of course) to avoid the hard job of actually pricing players per the market system that the teams negotiated in the CBA.
Ayton is on an expiring deal by choice. The only thing we know for sure is that he’s certain to make less $$ in each of next 4 years than he would have if he had negotiated a 4 year max from PHX.
Maybe Ayton did try to negotiate a 4-year max contract with Phoenix.
He’s on an expiring contract by the team’s choice, not his own. They offered him less money than he feels he’s worth, and then ended up giving both Bridges and Shamet the money they asked for. Even if the Suns do manage to keep Ayton next summer, the team will end up paying a substantial luxury tax bill in 2023. Or maybe they force him to take his QO next season, then let him get a long-term deal elsewhere, and save a ton of money.
No, he did not. We know this because his agents certainly would have mentioned that in their diatribe if he did.
Ayton doesn’t even know what they would have offered him (other than it wouldn’t be the 5 year max) since his agents wouldn’t sit down with the 5 year max off the table. Anyway, he wasn’t made an offer because he didn’t negotiate – nobody disputes that. BTW, it’s totally his right to go to the market, but also totally his choice.
Really. Speaking of cheap!!! GS cut then resigned Payton JUST to save $300k. Insult to injury.
He will still make the same amount over the season if he can stick on the roster the whole way. It makes some sense since they pay 4.50:1 So they saved like 1.27M with that move. I expect that if he doesnt earn a roll they cut him for 10 day contracts and buyouts later to have injury flexibility.
Actually they also saved at least a million in luxury taxes, not just $300K.
If the Warriors had been cheap, they wouldn’t have extended his contract, that expired at the end of last season, to cover the Summer League and Training Camp so that he could make the team.
Thanks for the education- but still pennies when all considered.
I think if the contract offered was an insult to Gary Payton he would have rejected it. But he’s glad to be there and he’s glad to be on an NBA roster. No insult at all.
He had to take it if he wanted to stay in the league. He would have taken it even without the $350k, since no one else was offering him a chance. I think the Warriors felt bad they screwed him so they gave him half back. And it’s the same if he lasts past Jan 10.
@xdrta How do you know no other team would taken him?
Well, no one claimed his non-guaranteed contract on waivers.
They did it at the end of training camp. Most rosters were set. They would have to waive someone before they could sign him. The Warriors signed once he hit free agency.
Ayton should have taken their offer. He is the only player that sis not take an offer. He could end up like Cousins get hurt and never have that security. He should know taking less will also help put better players around him I am sure he can get some advertising locally to make up the difference. How much more does he add to the team than say Homes, Robinson or Robert Williams. What makes him special like a Booker, Moran’s or Young?
Local advertising? Are you high? That extra year would be in $20 million range. I doubt any businesses, local to Phoenix, have advertising budgets that size.
Ayton is not worth a 5-year max… he can still get that if he is, or more. “Lock him up”?… make sure first… I called Ayton #1 in his draft class, but I also ridiculed his foot movement defensively later. On the Suns I think Bridges has more headroom, CPaul is more critical, and Booker is more talented.