Deandre Ayton called it "a blessing" to return to the Phoenix Suns on his new four-year, $133million contract extension.
Ayton, 23, averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this past regular season, making it four consecutive seasons he has tallied at least 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest since entering the league in the 2018 NBA Draft.
The former first overall pick finished fourth in the NBA in field goal percentage (63.4 per cent), while also demonstrating he has the defensive versatility to close playoff games – a rare trait for a modern centre in the era of 'small-ball'.
Instead of paying their top pick his max contract a year early to take the pressure off – as the Dallas Mavericks did with Ayton's draft classmate Luka Doncic – the Suns decided against that route, forcing their seven-foot youngster to prove himself again a season after helping the franchise to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993.
After waiting to see what price Ayton would command on the open market, the Suns did not hesitate to match the Indiana Pacers' max offer sheet, as it was one year and $42m less than the Suns could have offered as the team that drafted him.
Speaking to ESPN in his first interview since making his extension with Phoenix official, Ayton said while he is grateful, the process has opened his eyes to the business side of the NBA.
"This is a blessing," he said. "This contract not only has generational impact for my family, but also with the way we are able to work in the Phoenix community and home in the Bahamas.
"I've come to understand that this is a business. So, I was more anxious to know the end of the result so I could focus, move on and just get back to work. The shift in free agency brought a lot of uncertainty through the whole process.
"I got to give a lot of respect to the Pacers organisation – they were aggressive from the start and showing a lot of love – and we agreed to a max offer sheet. The Suns matched, now, I'm back in Phoenix as a Sun.
"I'm happy the process is over. I can put all this behind me and focus on chasing a championship this upcoming season with my brothers."
Suns general manager James Jones told ESPN that the plan was always to bring Ayton back, although he called the decision to play things out through restricted free agency "negotiations", without going into it any further.
"We wanted Deandre here," he said. "He's vital to what we do, at the core of everything that we do.
"Throughout this whole process it was, it rang true. We wanted to keep him here, and the moment we can come to an agreement, we would.
"So, waiting 24 hours, 48 hours [to match the Pacers' offer], that wasn't something we needed to do because going into it, we knew this is where he wanted to be and where we wanted him to be.
"If there's any doubt from anyone that we wanted him, I think that the matching did that. It was urgent for us. It was important. It was critical for us. So, we just wanted to make sure that we handled our business quickly."
Phoenix head coach Monty Williams also said he was ecstatic to have his starting center back, despite an incident in the Suns' Game 7 elimination against the Golden State Warriors where Ayton allegedly refused to re-enter the game during the blowout loss, which Williams called an "internal" matter at the time.
"James [Jones] and myself, we talk a lot and he'll let me know what's going on with the contract and ask for my opinion," Williams said.
"I try to stay out of persuading him when it comes to him making decisions, but we knew any offer that he got, we were going to match.
"I'm happy for Deandre just because I know this is what he wanted. He wants to be in that class of players that's regarded in this way. From that standpoint, I think as a competitor, that's what you want. When you see a guy working for that, that part is pretty cool."
In his first comments about the Game 7 situation, Ayton said any issues are now "in the past" and that his relationship with Williams is "calm".
When Williams was asked about the situation, he simply described it as "a bad day".
"I didn't feel like I had to say anything. I was just doing my job," he said. "We had a bad day, but we had an unbelievable season.
"Unfortunately, in sports and even in society, we focus on the one bad thing. It hurt like crazy, and it still hurts. It was embarrassing to play that way, but as the dust settles and I look at the season from a holistic perspective, I look at all the good stuff that happened."
Jokic: Nuggets following 'phenomenal' Muray in NBA Finals
The Denver Nuggets are following the "phenomenal" Jamal Murray in the NBA Finals, says Nikola Jokic.
Jokic and Murray became the teammates in NBA Finals history to record triple-doubles as the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 109-94 on Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Two-time NBA MVP Jokic had 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists for the first such game in Finals history, or at least the first since assists were tracked.
The triple-double was his 10th this postseason and 16th of his career, a number that trails only LeBron James (28).
Murray had 34 points and 10 assists and completed his first career playoff triple-double with a rebound with nine seconds remaining, and Jokic lauded his teammate for leading the Nuggets through the playoffs so far.
"He's playing phenomenally, I think, the whole playoffs," Jokic said of Murray.
"We're just following him and he's a really good leader. His energy is amazing, and we are just following.
"He's reading the game really well. He's getting guys involved, and I think he's mature, if that makes any sense, and he knows where to find the guys and how to control the game.
"It's not just us, it's the team, and like I said even before the series started, the Denver Nuggets need to beat Miami, not me and Jamal and whoever is on the other side. We as a group need to beat them."
Asked how proud he was of his record-achieving performance, Jokic replied: "To be honest, I just think it's a win because if you lose, nobody is going to even mention it. I don't care. It's just a stat."
The Nuggets' win came after they had lost Game 2 of the series at home.
Jokic added: "When you lose the game, of course it's a bad atmosphere, whatever, it's a bad momentum. But maybe it helped us to refocus and just be better in the details. But that doesn't mean that we can relax now or whatever. We need to have the same effort because they're going to be even better."
Nuggets coach Michael Malone eulogised over the performances of his star players.
"I think it's the first time in Finals history or maybe NBA history that two guys have 30, 10 triple-doubles, so that's incredible right there," Malone said.
"Regarding Nikola, nothing he does surprises me ever. This guy has shown time and time again that he's built for these moments. He thrives in these moments, the biggest stage. He did that once again tonight.
"I'm really proud of Jamal, and I could tell speaking to him yesterday, being around him the last 48 hours, that he was putting a lot of Game 2 on him, and it wasn't just him. It was me and every one of our players. It was collective.
"But that's what champions do. That's what warriors do. They battled back. I felt his presence all day long. Forget the stats for a second. I felt Jamal's presence, his energy, and he was here in the moment and for him and Nikola to do what they did tonight in a game that we needed to take, regain home-court advantage of the series was special to watch."
Reflecting on his performance in Game 2, Murray said: "I felt like I didn't bring the intensity that the moment called for. Even though I didn't play terrible, I felt like I could have done a lot more.
"Most people that have watched the Nuggets play, when I have a game like that, I'm most likely going to bounce back. Just one of those days. I think not just me but everybody bounced back. Everybody brought the energy.
"Everybody was just coming into the game and wanting to bring the intensity that we're used to playing with."
Denver stars rewrite the record books as Nuggets take series lead
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray created a piece of NBA Finals history as they inspired the Denver Nuggets to a 109-94 win over the Miami Heat and a 2-1 lead in the series.
The pair became the first teammates in finals history to chalk up triple-doubles – Murray finishing with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while Jokic added 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in Miami.
“I’m just glad that we won the game,” Jokic said. “It was a big one for us because they won in our arena. We just didn’t want to go down 2-1. We were more locked in, more focused.”
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points for the Heat and Bam Adebayo finished with 22, but the hosts were unable to produce one of the comebacks which have been their trademark during the play-offs.
Seven times in the post-season they have rallied from at least 12 points, but down by 14 heading into the final quarter they were unable to produce another late rally.
The lead, which Denver had taken after sharing the first quarter and never surrendered in the second half, stretched out to 21 and even though Miami got it back to nine inside the final 90 seconds, they would get no closer.
Jokic finished with 12 for 21 from the floor as he extended the single-season record with his 10th triple-double of the play-offs and became only the seventh player to have more than one in the same finals series – only Magic Johnson and LeBron James have managed three.
Miami’s Udonis Haslem, who turns 43 on Friday, came off the bench in the final 30 seconds to become the oldest player in the NBA Finals, taking the record of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Jokic, Murray have triple-doubles as Nuggets defeat Heat in Game 3 for 2-1 series lead
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray became the teammates in NBA Finals history to record triple-doubles and the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 109-94 on Wednesday for a 2-1 lead.
Jokic had 32 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists for the first such game in Finals history, or at least the first since assists were tracked. The triple-double was his 10th this postseason and 16th of his career, a number that trails only LeBron James (28).
Murray had 34 points and 10 assists and completed his first career playoff triple-double with a rebound with nine seconds remaining.
Christian Braun provided Denver with a lift off the bench, scoring 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes. Aaron Gordon had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists to help Denver win its fourth straight postseason road game.
The Nuggets took the lead for good late in the first half and outscored the Heat 29-20 in the third quarter for an 82-68 advantage heading into the final quarter. The lead ballooned to as big as 21 points before Miami whittled it down to 103-94 with just over a minute left.
Jimmy Butler scored 28 points, but Bam Adebayo was the only other Heat player with more than 10 points, adding 22 and 17 rebounds. Miami lost its third straight home playoff game after winning six in a row there.
Game 4 is Friday in Miami.
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