Forgotten Suns veteran may get one final chance to save his career

The 2025-26 season may be going well for the Phoenix Suns, but that doesn't mean everybody on the roster is thriving. Former EuroLeague Final Four MVP Nigel Hayes-Davis having barely gotten a look in.

Hayes-Davis may be given final chance to impress because of injury

It is clear head coach Jordan Ott just does not have a place for his abilities on both ends of the court, favoring more defensive-minded forwards such as Isaiah Livers and Ryan Dunn in the rotation.

But with Dunn out of the matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, the second in two nights and which will surprisingly feature Mark Williams, with knee soreness, Hayes-Davis could get a final chance to show what he can do.

With Livers only coming back from injury and rookie Rasheer Fleming getting brought on slowly, coach Ott has to find a couple of bodies for the end of his rotation.

This is the exact situation the 31-year-old was brought to The Valley for, to be the veteran the franchise could call upon when stuck. The Suns have now hit that point.

With Royce O'Neale starting in the absence of Grayson Allen (also out with a knee issue), Hayes-Davis could also find himself getting the opportunity to get some shots up too.

Which would be a great development for him considering he has taken 40 shots all season long. What else do you expect when he's only spent 170 minutes on the court, versus the 547 of Dunn.

What hasn't helped his cause is Jordan Goodwin (546 minutes) and Jamaree Bouyea (196 and quickly rising) jumping him in the queue, and the fact they are point guards only proves the point coach Ott doesn't see a use for Hayes-Davis even more.

He would rather give up size on the perimeter for guys who will defend tenaciously as those two players do, something we have not seen from Hayes-Davis so far.

Really though his confidence looks shot and the Suns are more competitive than anybody could have imagined, making it harder to give minutes when so many of the other players on the roster are contributing.

Hayes-Davis is likely headed back to Europe after the season anyway, if he can even get to that point, but the spate of injuries that have hit the roster have provided him with a final lifeline to save his career in the NBA. It is up to him if he takes it.