On the eve of the NBA season, the Phoenix Suns extended three-and-D wing Mikal Bridges. Bridges and the Suns agreed to a 4-year/$90 million dollar rookie contract extension. The contract is fully guaranteed.
This past season, Bridges averaged 13.5 points on 54.3% from the field and 42.5% from three. Bridges also averaged 4.3 rebounds, one steal and one block per game.
Bridges’ play on both sides of the basketball makes him one of the more important pieces to this young Sun’s core. At the age of 25, the Suns count on him offensively as their main catch-and-shoot sniper, and, defensively, to guard the opposing team’s main scorer almost on a nightly basis, including high-profile stars like LeBron James, Khris Middleton, and Paul George in last year’s postseason.
This is a great move by Phoenix. Not only is James Jonesbringing back one of the team’s main players, but the Suns have locked him up during his prime. Just like a lot of players on this young team, there still is a lot of time for Bridges to get better. Whether it’s improving his physicality or playmaking, the Suns can anticipate his production and value to increase as time goes on.
However, this is an interesting situation considering DeAndre Ayton’s potential contract extension. Ayton, who was from the same draft class as Bridges, is also up for a rookie contract extension and wants a max contract. He believes that he deserves the extensions that players from the 2018 draft class such as Luka Doncic, Trae Young and most recently Michael Porter have already received.
“I love Phoenix, but I’m really disappointed that we haven’t really gotten a deal done yet,” said Ayton. “I mean, we were two wins from a championship. I just really want to be respected, to be honest, to be respected like my peers are being respected by their teams. I’ll just keep it like that.”
Regardless, the Suns locked up a player who they view as highly valuable to the franchise until the year 2026. Mikal Bridges will be the wingman alongside Booker for years to come in the Valley.
