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Phoenix Suns stock up, stock down
The Phoenix Suns rolled the dice on Kevin Durant at the trade deadline only to endure yet another early postseason exit. Despite failing to live up to the hype, the Suns have justifiably high expectations. Here are four members of the Suns whose stock is trending either up or down:
Stock up
Kevin Durant, forward: Speaking of Durant, there's a lot going against the former league MVP entering 2023-24. For starters, he turns 35 in September. Secondly, his acquisition from Brooklyn gutted the team's depth and squeezed its roster flexibility. Regardless, Durant's presence takes the Suns from a good regular-season team to a legitimate NBA Finals contender.
Let's not forgot that Durant hasn't even appeared in 20 games yet with the franchise. The relationship is still in its infancy, and the early returns from Durant were impressive. His 29 points-per-game average in the playoffs was his best in the postseason since 2020-21.
The title window may be small, but a full offseason alongside Devin Booker and company should position Durant and the Suns to make a legitimate run in the West.
Kevin Young, assistant coach: Monty Williams was given the boot after Phoenix's semifinals loss to the Denver Nuggets. According to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, the team is expected to fill the vacancy with either Doc Rivers, Frank Vogel or Young. The latter has earned a strong endorsement to be the team's next head coach from Booker, per NBA insider Marc Stein.
Young might not be a household name to the average fan, but he's certainly garnered the attention of league execs. Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer has dubbed Young as "one of the league's hottest candidates for a lead job." Young, 41, appears destined to land a head-coaching job, so pencil him in as Phoenix's heir to Williams.
Stock down
Chris Paul, point guard: Paul is owed $60.8M over the next two seasons. That's a lot for a player with diminishing production and a lack of availability during the playoffs. Paul missed the final four games of Phoenix's postseason run. When he was available, the 38-year-old posted the worst postseason scoring average of his 18-year career (12.4 ppg).
Paul, whose stock is at an all-time low, may prove difficult to move. As Yossi Gozlan of Hoops Hype suggested, Phoenix could attempt to waive Paul and re-sign him to the $12.2M mid-level exception. The move would slap the Suns with a $15.8M dead cap hit but save them cash the following season. Ultimately, the team would likely prefer to wash its hands of Paul if possible this offseason and add more reliable pop to their backcourt.
Deandre Ayton, center: The writing has been on the wall for the Suns to part with Ayton for quite some time, He has averaged a double-double over his five seasons in Phoenix, but that's not enough to overcome his multiple run-ins with Suns staff/players and questionable effort during the playoffs.
Devin Booker on trying to pick up Deandre Ayton after tonight: “Energy and effort always has to be high, especially around this time. You can’t get flustered, you can’t get in your own head, and I could see that with him a little bit tonight, so that’s my job to just pump him up” pic.twitter.com/qqeqRpkx5f
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) May 6, 2023
Ayton's scoring average dipped by nearly four points per game in the playoffs this year over last. Defensively, he was a turnstile for Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, who dropped an average of 34.5 points on him. At 24 years old, Ayton remains Phoenix's best trade chip by a wide margin. He's just not the dominant force the Suns thought they were getting when they chose him as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.
More must-reads:
- Pistons break the bank to land former Coach of the Year Monty Williams
- Report: Suns down to three finalists for head-coach job
- The '30 PPG in the regular season' quiz
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TODAY'S BEST
One NBA team emerging as favorite to sign Ben Simmons
Ben Simmons may be headed back to the Atlantic Division. The New York Knicks appear to be the favorites to sign the former NBA All-Star forward Simmons in free agency, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported Tuesday. Siegel adds that it is expected to be a veteran’s minimum contract for Simmons if he does end up in New York. Along with the Knicks, the Boston Celtics have also been at the forefront of the Simmons sweepstakes, Siegel adds. However, the Celtics signed fellow veteran frontcourt piece Chris Boucher on Tuesday, seemingly taking them out of the running for Simmons. Simmons, 29, is still unsigned over a month into the free agent period. He finished out last season with the L.A. Clippers, averaging 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists over 16.4 minutes per game in 18 appearances off the bench. He also previously played in the Knicks’ division, beginning his career with the Philadelphia 76ers and then getting traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2022. The Knicks could foreseeably use another big body off the bench. However, a Simmons signing would likely be more of a flier than anything after they signed a former Sixth Man of the Year winner to carry their second unit and also added a versatile bench forward who is capable of playing and defending multiple positions. Simmons is clearly little more than minimum-contract fodder at this point of his NBA career. But as a three-time All-Star and a two-time All-Defensive selection with some playmaking juice still left in him as well, Simmons appears to be closing in on another chance in the league.
Padres already demoting one of their trade-deadline acquisitions
The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list. San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut Monday night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Monday's performance pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom-10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league-average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage. This is the first time in two-and-a-half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter. The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation. San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox. That’d point to the series finale on Aug. 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday, via the MLB.com injury tracker. He’d be on six days' rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.
Blue Jays demolish MLB records with eye-popping Coors Field performance
DENVER — There's nothing like coming to Coors Field to fix what ails you. Just ask the Toronto Blue Jays. Losers of six of eight games before arriving in Denver, the Blue Jays posted an MLB-record 63 hits in a three-game series while easily sweeping a road series from the Colorado Rockies. By totaling 25 hits on Monday night, 14 on Tuesday and 24 in Wednesday's matinee, the Blue Jays set a new MLB standard for offensive prowess. Toronto passed the MLB record of 62 hits in a three-game series, set by the Boston Red Sox in a June 7-9, 1950 matchup against the St. Louis Browns. As part of the hit parade, Toronto smashed 13 home runs, the most ever surrendered by the Rockies in a three-game set. Included in that barrage were three hits by Bo Bichette, including a three-run shot on Wednesday afternoon that got the Blue Jays rolling in the third inning. Kyle Freeland, Wednesday's starter for Colorado, allowed seven hits in his 4.2 innings of work. That was the fewest amount of hits given up by a Rockies starter against Toronto, as Rockies starter Tanner Gordon allowed 11 in 2.2 frames on Monday, while Anthony Molina surrendered nine in 5.0 innings on Tuesday. "We need to pitch with confidence as starting pitchers. We need to command the baseball better in general," said Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer as his team slipped to 30-84 on the season. "We have to put hitters away when we have that opportunity." That was something Colorado couldn't do against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, as their first six runs of a 20-1 blowout win came with two outs in the frame. Wednesday's offensive explosion helped Toronto outscore the Rockies, 45-6, in the series. That run differential was the second-most in MLB's modern era and the most runs scored by an MLB team in a three-game series since the 2019 Chicago Cubs scored 47 runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates from Sept. 13-15, 2019. In all, the 45 runs, 63 hits and 13 home runs allowed in the series were each the most allowed by Colorado pitchers in a three-game set in franchise history. How bad did it get for Colorado at the end of the series? Down 12-1 entering the ninth inning on Wednesday, the Rockies put catcher Austin Nola on the mound for his first-ever pitching appearance. He was nothing like his younger brother, Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola, as he promptly gave up four consecutive doubles, including RBI shots from Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as part of eight hits and eight runs posted by the Blue Jays against him. "It hurts when you get beat that bad for three games," Nola said. "We can compete with anybody. I know we can. We're all Major League players, so it definitely hurts. We're going to have to flush this one and get back out there on Friday in Arizona and have a new competitive attitude." All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Tonka Hemingway Earning First Teams Reps With Las Vegas Raiders
Former South Carolina defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway is earning first-team reps with the Las Vegas Raiders. NFL preseason games will continue over the next few days, and one former South Carolina Gamecock has a major opportunity ahead of him with the Las Vegas Raiders. According to recent reports, Tonka Hemingway has been earning first-team reps with the Raiders during training camp. The former fourth-round pick is on track to earn playing time during his first season with the organization, but he will have to earn those minutes during preseason games over the next few weeks. "It's been fun," Hemingway said on Tuesday. "Coming out here and competing. Getting to know some of the guys. Just learning from all of them it means a lot." Hemingway was asked if any specific player has been helpful to his development so far, and the former Gamecock said the whole team has been beneficial for him. "Really the whole room I would say," Hemingway conitnued. "All of the vets, just listening to them talk. They may not be talking to you but may parents always said just listen. So just listening to them, hearing them talk, seeing how they work, take everything in, that's been real good." Hemingway was a difference maker for the Gamecocks last season. In 2024, he finished the season with 25 tackles, four tackles for loss and four sacks. His final season helped land him with the Raiders, to which he would later sign a four-year deal worth $4.87 million with a $666K signing bonus. On the Raiders' unofficial depth chart, Hemingway is listed as the third-string defensive end. He will have the opportunity to improve his slot, but regardless, it sounds like Hemingway has earned the right to playing time this season.
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