Phoenix Suns stock up, stock down

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. 

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.