Former Suns flop proves he belongs with impressive playoff performances

The Phoenix Suns weren't even in the playoff conversation this season, having won only 36 games en route to firing yet another head coach in Mike Budenholzer. A sorry end to the Kevin Durant era, as he has surely played his last game for the Suns. As for the hiring of a fourth head coach in four seasons, the franchise at least look like they're learning from past mistakes.

That doesn't mean that they didn't have any interest in the postseason - and although they would have been badly humbled had they somehow made it - former players showed what they could do on the biggest stage. None more so than Mikal Bridges, who helped the New York Knicks on a valiant run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Surprise Suns flop also showed he belonged while with Knicks.

Bridges is obviously a key component of the Knicks, but has wasn't the only former player who showed out during the playoffs with New York. In their opening round series win over the Detroit Pistons, it was Cameron Payne who showed why he was on the Knicks' roster as he came off the bench and had some huge plays.

Fast forward to their Game 6 loss against the Indiana Pacers however, and Payne received a DNP. It just wasn't the series for him, with the Pacers being too quick offensively and capable of buzzing through the likes of Payne whenever he was on the court. He can still look at this season personally as a success, and will surely find a spot either in New York or elsewhere next season.

But it was Landry Shamet who surprised with his output versus the Pacers. Barely used during their postseason run - Shamet averaged 7.5 minutes per night across 11 games - in the last two games he was a nice surprise for the Knicks. Even better for them - given head coach Tom Thibodeau's reluctance to use his bench - the Pacers didn't know how to game plan effectively for him.

Yes the Knicks lost Game 6 - and Shamet was never going to change that - but his 12 points was by far the most off the bench by a New York player. The beloved Josh Hart - a much better and more effective player especially defensively - could only muster four points. Prior to that in a Game 5 win for the Knicks to keep the series alive, Shamet played 14 minutes.

It is still fair to point out that - when a playoff series becomes a grind it out affair - that Shamet's lack of size is a problem. Only for a Knicks squad that had plus wing defenders such as Bridges and OG Anunoby - plus the likes of Hart and even Miles McBride for the occasional possession - they could survive Shamet being out there for periods of time.

This then allowed his borderline elite shooting to help them bag some much needed points, before heading to the bench again. Given how the Suns were built this season - they had the fourth worst defensive rating in the entire league - Shamet would have been a disaster if used regularly by them. But he is yet another role player to prove he can play in big spots since leaving The Valley.