Before the Phoenix Suns take on the Golden State Warriors tonight, which marks the 23rd game of the season, we are wrapping up our website’s analysis on the state of the Suns stock market.
Are you trying your hand at the market? Do you receive notifications when your inventory levels increase or decrease? Me neither. I let my wife do that while I focus on that while I play recklessly on DraftKings instead of playing the market. The first quarter of the season for Phoenix has been interesting to say the least, and it’s almost fitting that tonight we might get a chance to see the Big Three for the first time, because that’s what was missing in the first 22 games. The Suns have had to adapt accordingly, and with that each player’s value and stock increases as well.They are actions based on performance compared to expectations. It is not necessarily a stock with exchange value, although this may be taken into consideration. If you missed the first two parts of the series, fear not: the silver lining is here.And now, for the final third of the selection, since we’ve gone alphabetically by last name.Nassir Piccolo: Stock ↑He wasn’t just a throwback from the trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, as he has provided quality minutes with Phoenix thus far. He has always been a player with great prospects and a plan, but since he entered the league he has no longer been part of a winning culture. That has changed here in Phoenix as expectations have risen. But he didn’t have high expectations from fans, just the hope that he could contribute. Just give us quality minutes! Just give us some defense! Hit a three! Oh good? We accept this too!Nas has been a welcome addition to the Suns and will have his ups and downs, but we didn’t expect much from him to begin with. We were hoping for a production by him, but expectations weren’t high. He responded with 16 games played, 5.2 minutes and 2.1 rebounds. Normally the stats aren’t ‘stock’, but given the expectations, we’ll take them in stride. We will take the energy from the bank.It exceeded his minimum expectations.Chimezie Metu: Staff —After a hot pre-season, I think we all thought we would see more of Chimezie Metu. His length, athleticism and surprising three-point shooting in the preseason created high expectations that he failed to live up to. This is partly because Frank Vogel didn’t use it very often. He is a central player because he is too small to actually be big, but too big to be an effective attacker. He played 12 games for Phoenix playing 8.4 minutes per game. Not quite the runway I thought we’d see from him.I keep it because I want to see more. I’ll have to see if Vogel is willing to experiment with him a little more in small ball, as the rotations are well set when the Big Three debut. Will he get minutes in this role instead of Eubanks? Or will he be used as a power forward on the second team when needed?We don’t yet know what to expect from Metu.Jusuf Nurkic: actions ↑Value for money, that’s what I keep telling myself when I look at Nurkic.Will he be overwhelmed by opposing guards in the fourth quarter? Absolute. But what did we expect? Who would have had the lateral quickness that Deandre Ayton possessed? We knew this wasn’t the case. We knew losing DA would hurt us defensively in the fourth quarter. That being said, Nurkic has been a solid addition to this team. If he plays well, Phoenix wins. He’s a connector on the offensive end, can bully opponents on the defensive end – as long as they’re not too athletic – and grab rebounds. He leads the team with 9.1 rebounds.Yes, his 27.8 percent from three-point range on 2.5 attempts needs to cool, but it’s his form that the Suns have embraced. They need a physical presence and Nurk provided that. If only he hadn’t committed those stupid fouls.He’s a lot more aggressive than we thought we were willing to give him credit for, and his engagement was a pleasant surprise. There was talk that he was a player who retired and put his head down, but we haven’t seen that in Phoenix yet. We saw someone who cares. Josh Okogie: Stock ↓JO is having a fantastic season in 2022-2023, but his offense has declined. 6.4 points in 21.8 minutes played. 40.4% from the field. 23.4% on three. 7 of 31 from the third corner (22.6%). He will always get playing time due to his continued ability to defend, be a nuisance, and provide offensive rebounds from the wing position. But his stock is declining because our expectations are slightly higher than what he has produced. Many thought he would be the ideal fifth starter for Phoenix, but he hasn’t been able to execute. He played in all 22 games for Phoenix, but only started 10. His lack of offensive prowess causes opposing defenses to simply leave him alone while they fail in their attempts against Booker or Durant. It seems like a declining stock situation to me.Yuta Watanabe: Stock ↓What goes against Yuta is the fact that I think we had very high expectations for him. You look and see that he shot 439% from three-point range in his career, and how could you not? A knockout three-point shooter coming off the bench who played with Kevin Durant? Where do we sign? But unfortunately, Watanabe was a defensive liability as he got lost in the plans that Frank Vogel was trying to implement. His three-point shooting is also not as effective as it was before his move to Phoenix, although 36.7 percent is acceptable.Yes, his stock is down at this point in the season. Did he enter the Shamet zone? I’ll let you judge. There he is. Your quarterly seasonal report. I enjoyed putting it together and could put a piece together every week. A “Suns Bag,” if you will, debating who is rising, who is falling, and who we should hold on to.Make sure you call your broker in the morning and make the right decisions to support and diversify your portfolio. We gave you the information. We can’t force you to eat it and we don’t know what to tell you what to do with it. Just enjoy Suns basketball.
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