Also, they didn't offer a max to their max-tier player due their extension, despite him being an evident part of why they had even got to the Finals in the first place. I think that played a significant role in the souring of things. Watching Ayton's media stuff the other day was painful. He is not happy. I think that whole debacle played far more of a role in the discontent surrounding Phoenix than expectations did.
Luckily, we paid all of our guys except I guess Jax, and Jax isn't in the same kind of role as Ayton where he can demand as much or upset things as much. If you're Phoenix, you're kind of forced into playing Ayton and doing so for significant minutes if you want any success, whereas Jax isn't that kind of make-it-or-break-it piece for us, so we're not under the gun nearly so much.