The Phoenix Suns are using multiple players to replace Kevin Durant at power forward this season. Nigel Hayes-Davis is one of them, joining the team on July 9th after seven seasons in Europe. He recently played for reigning EuroLeague champion Fenerbahçe, where he averaged 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also shot 41% from three-point range and made 49.8% of his field goal attempts.
Hayes-Davis appeared on Tuesday afternoon’s PHNX Suns podcast episode to reflect on his career, his return to the NBA and describe the Suns’ new coaching style under “basketball nerd” Jordan Ott.
Suns Forward Describes Career With Chinese Proverb
The story that Hayes-Davis recalled on the show chronicles a farmer’s successes and struggles in his environment. While his neighbors celebrate or console him, depending on the situation, the farmer responds with saying, “Maybe.” Hayes-Davis learned the proverb’s even-keeled lesson from his football coach at Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio.
“That’s something that I try to use in life,” Hayes-Davis said. “Nothing’s really good or bad. In those moments, it feels like this is horrible or this is fantastic. You try to be not too high or not too low.”
The former Wisconsin Badger has used that mantra to help him during his professional career. Specifically, during his 2021-22 season at FC Barcelona, where he averaged 4.2 points and 2.1 rebounds a game and last season with Fenerbahçe, where he was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team and received Final Four MVP.
“Remember where you were to motivate you, and then also remember where you were at, and let that motivate you to keep going and not be complacent,” Hayes-Davis said.
Hayes-Davis’s Return to the NBA
Just like the farmer, Hayes-Davis’s situation has undulated through the years. He started three out of his four years at Wisconsin, making the Final Four in 2014 and 2015. This included making the game-tying layup in a 71-64 win against then-unbeaten Kentucky in the 2015 NCAA tournament semifinals. He wrapped up his college career averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
However, Hayes-Davis went undrafted, and hopped around the league. After initially signing with the New York Knicks, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings during the 2017-18 season. Despite signing a multi-year contract when he joined the Kings, he was waived roughly three months later.
So, the former Badger went searching for playing time across the Atlantic Ocean. Playing with Galatasaray in 2018-19, he then played two seasons for BC Žalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania, before playing at FC Barcelona and Fenerbahçe.
“You’re removed from what was your childhood dream,” Hayes-Davis said about playing in Europe. “You’re in a whole new environment. New people, new language, new culture, new (style of) basketball. In order to thrive and succeed, you have to be where your feet are.”
Now the 30 year old gets to return stateside and still live out his childhood dream.
“It was more of betting on myself for sure, but also as a way to give thanks and appreciation and reward the people in my life who helped me to reach those dreams,” Hayes-Davis said on why he joined the Suns.
What Hayes-Davis Brings to the Suns
Hayes-Davis mentioned in the episode that one of his goals heading into last season was to make at least 40% of his threes and go 50% on field goal attempts. Although he fell short of the latter, he will still fit well into the Suns’ system. Durant shot 43% from beyond the arc last season. Royce O’Neale, who could start at power forward this season, netted 40.6% of this three-pointers.
Phoenix also lost Tyus Jones in the offseason after making 41.4% of his three point attempts last campaign. In other words, Hayes-Davis currently has the team’s third best three-point percentage. So, his shooting also fills a much-needed gap. He could make for a good bench option alongside Grayson Allen, who shot 42.6% from three-point range last season.
Despite losing Durant and Bradley Beal in the offseason, the Suns have brought in spirited newcomers like Hayes-Davis. Newcomers that might make this era of Suns basketball seem less like a rebuilding phase.
© Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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