The Suns have exercised their fourth-year team options on the rookie scale contracts of Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges, along with the third-year option on Cameron Johnson‘s rookie deal, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions.
All three options apply to the 2021-22 season, guaranteeing each player’s salary for that year. Ayton’s option is worth $12.63M, Bridges’ is for $5.56M, and Johnson’s has a value of $4.44M.
None of the decisions came as a surprise, as all three players have established themselves as promising young contributors in Phoenix.
Ayton, the former No. 1 overall pick, averaged 18.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG and 1.5 BPG in 38 games (32.5 MPG) in 2019-20 after serving a 25-game suspension to start the season for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. He’ll be eligible for a rookie scale extension in 2021.
Bridges, who will also be extension-eligible next year, recorded 9.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 1.4 SPG with a solid .510/.361/.844 shooting line in 73 games (28.0 MPG) last season. He moved into Phoenix’s starting lineup later in the season, including for the team’s 8-0 run during the summer restart.
Johnson, the 11th pick in the 2019 draft, averaged 8.8 PPG and knocked down 39.0% of his three-point tries in 57 games (22.0 MPG) as a rookie. The Suns will have to decide next year whether to exercise his $5.89M fourth-year option for 2022-23.
More must-reads: