Suns, forward Mikal Bridges agree to 4-year, $90 million extension: Source
Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $90 million rookie contract extension, a source confirmed to The Athletic. The contract is fully guaranteed.
The 25-year-old was a key cog in the Suns' run to last season's NBA Finals. He scored in double figures in 13 of the team's 22 postseason games, averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Bridges scored 14 points, fourth-most behind Chris Paul (32 points), Devin Booker (27) and Deandre Ayton (22). In his three seasons with Phoenix, he's averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, two assists and 1.4 steals a game.
Bridges, who played at Villanova for three seasons, was selected by his hometown 76ers with the 10th overall pick in the 2018 draft, but traded to the Suns just under an hour later for Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, who was selected by the Suns with the No. 16 pick, and a 2021 first-round pick (later used in the deal to acquire Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers).
What Bridges means to the Suns
Sam Amick, NBA senior writer: There's no such thing as a LeBron stopper, or a Kawhi stopper, or a Durant stopper, or a stopper of any elite wing who has risen to the top of the game by, well, being virtually unstoppable. But when it comes to slowing those kinds of talents, Bridges' ability to do just that while also burying the most important shot of them all — the 3 — at a very high rate has made him an extremely valuable piece of this Suns program. The contract, of course, bears that out.
Is this a good deal for the Suns?
Amick: Anyone else notice that defenders are starting to secure the bag in a whole new way lately? Rudy Gobert is the most obvious example, as the Jazz big man (and three-time Defensive Player of the Year) landed a five-year, $205 million deal in Dec. 2020. But Denver's Aaron Gordon (four years, $92 million signed last month) is a much better comp for Bridges, whose value on that end, combined with his shooting (42.5 percent on 4.4 attempts per game), justifies this move.
Now, of course, we will see what happens next with big man DeAndre Ayton. If the Suns don't give in and hand him the max extension he so desires, it will make for an uncomfortable subplot to their season as he nears restricted free agency next summer.
Suns, forward Mikal Bridges agree to 4-year, $90 million extension: Source
Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $90 million rookie contract extension, a source confirmed to The Athletic. The contract is fully guaranteed.
The 25-year-old was a key cog in the Suns' run to last season's NBA Finals. He scored in double figures in 13 of the team's 22 postseason games, averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Bridges scored 14 points, fourth-most behind Chris Paul (32 points), Devin Booker (27) and Deandre Ayton (22). In his three seasons with Phoenix, he's averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, two assists and 1.4 steals a game.
Bridges, who played at Villanova for three seasons, was selected by his hometown 76ers with the 10th overall pick in the 2018 draft, but traded to the Suns just under an hour later for Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, who was selected by the Suns with the No. 16 pick, and a 2021 first-round pick (later used in the deal to acquire Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers).
What Bridges means to the Suns
Sam Amick, NBA senior writer: There's no such thing as a LeBron stopper, or a Kawhi stopper, or a Durant stopper, or a stopper of any elite wing who has risen to the top of the game by, well, being virtually unstoppable. But when it comes to slowing those kinds of talents, Bridges' ability to do just that while also burying the most important shot of them all — the 3 — at a very high rate has made him an extremely valuable piece of this Suns program. The contract, of course, bears that out.
Is this a good deal for the Suns?
Amick: Anyone else notice that defenders are starting to secure the bag in a whole new way lately? Rudy Gobert is the most obvious example, as the Jazz big man (and three-time Defensive Player of the Year) landed a five-year, $205 million deal in Dec. 2020. But Denver's Aaron Gordon (four years, $92 million signed last month) is a much better comp for Bridges, whose value on that end, combined with his shooting (42.5 percent on 4.4 attempts per game), justifies this move.
Now, of course, we will see what happens next with big man DeAndre Ayton. If the Suns don't give in and hand him the max extension he so desires, it will make for an uncomfortable subplot to their season as he nears restricted free agency next summer.
