{"id":954639,"date":"2026-07-23T19:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954639\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T19:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:34:17","slug":"how-phoenix-mercurys-held-suarez-and-ayayi-are-filling-into-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/954639\/","title":{"rendered":"How Phoenix Mercury’s Held, Suarez and Ayayi are filling into roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 The Phoenix Mercury are headed into the All-Star break with a 10-18 record and on the outside looking in at the playoff race. While they certainly aren\u2019t completely out of it, the Mercury will need to play near-perfect basketball<\/a> in their remaining 16 games if they want to go back to the postseason for the third season in a row.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a dangerous position to be in for one of the winningest franchises in WNBA history, as Phoenix has only missed the playoffs three times since 2007. But still, amidst what\u2019s felt like a rollercoaster of emotions in the past three months, a few underrated developments have transpired for fans to keep an eye on as the 2026 season approaches its conclusion.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s check in on some of Phoenix\u2019s more recent additions that are beginning to settle into a defined role with the team.<\/p>\n

Lexi Held<\/a> returns to Phoenix as a leader<\/p>\n

Lexi Held\u2019s WNBA journey has come full circle, as the 26-year-old guard debuted for the Mercury in 32 games a season ago, only to suddenly depart from the organization during the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft \u2014 where she was selected by the Toronto Tempo.<\/p>\n

After playing just 60 minutes in eight games for Toronto, Held was waived on May 28. Days later, she was back in Phoenix, becoming yet another familiar face from the 2025 finals run to hopefully turn around a disappointing start to the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was amazing, my rookie year,\u201d Held said during her first media availability after being signed. \u201cJust the way everybody here poured into me, believed in me last year. Super special. I\u2019m really happy to be back in this environment with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t exactly clear what Held\u2019s role would be or how many minutes she would play during her second stint with the Mercury, at least not right away. However, she was immediately thrown into the fire. On the same day she was signed, without participating in a single practice, head coach Nate Tibbetts played Held 15 minutes during a 111-77 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.<\/p>\n

She recorded just five points, in what happened to be Phoenix\u2019s worst loss of the season<\/a>, but getting her feet wet and receiving a loud ovation from the X-Factor crowd after checking into the game was still enough for Held to feel right back at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited for the opportunity,\u201d Held said after the game. \u201cI know I\u2019m a little bit fresh on the scene, but I have a lot of faith in this group and these coaches in this organization. So to me, I\u2019m just grateful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Held has grown into a regular piece of Tibbetts\u2019 rotation. In desperate need of guard play with Monique Akoa Makani<\/a> and Sami Whitcomb<\/a> each missing extended time, and Jovana Nogic<\/a> leaving the team for the remainder of the season<\/a>, Held has been counted on to play about 20 minutes per game \u2014 even starting in seven of her 18 appearances.<\/p>\n

While none of her traditional stats necessarily jump off the page, her impact shows up in other ways. Held\u2019s perimeter defense in particular is something that goes unnoticed if one is simply box-score watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a league driven by star guards, Tibbetts has given Held the assignment to defend the likes of Olivia Miles<\/a>, Paige Bueckers<\/a> and Kelsey Plum<\/a> on a nightly basis. More of a pest than an outright stopper, Held makes life uncomfortable on these stars with her constant effort and competitive nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can contribute \u2014 similar to last year \u2014 just a really [high] tenacity on defense, a lot of activity,\u201d Held said. \u201cI can shoot the ball well offensively, space the floor, make good decisions, and just be really willing to do the dirty work, play really hard \u2014 whatever the team needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Offensively, Held has made great strides, as well. Notable performances include a pair of 17-point games \u2014 the first on June 11 against the Dallas Fever, and the second on July 2 against the Seattle Storm. In the latter of those outings, Held made a career-high five 3-pointers on six attempts, leading Phoenix to a blowout victory that was its third in a row at the time.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, Held has developed the intangible skill of being a leader. In only her second season, she has shown great poise during what have often been rough times for the Mercury. Even during Phoenix\u2019s most catastrophic stretches, Held is always seen trying to keep the game in order while she\u2019s on the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s emphatically encouraging a dejected teammate to lock back in on defense or calmly signalling for another play on offense after an opponent goes on a scoring run, as the point guard, it\u2019s her job to stay composed.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Held] has come a long way,\u201d Mercury associate head coach Kristi Toliver<\/a> said after that July 2 game against Seattle. \u201cBut she\u2019s always had a really, really big heart, and I think that\u2019s what everyone in this organization has loved about her. And we\u2019re certainly happy that she\u2019s back here, where she belongs, and she\u2019s only going to get better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s gritty, she\u2019s tough, you can communicate with her,\u201d Toliver continued. \u201cShe has a very high IQ. She\u2019s a thinker of the game, and those are all things that you obviously want in your point guard and your playmaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Marta Suarez<\/a>\u2019s status with the Mercury?<\/p>\n

Like the Mercury\u2019s season, Marta Suarez\u2019s rookie year has been a wild ride. The Spanish forward out of TCU was the 16th overall selection in the 2026 draft, originally by the Seattle Storm, but then traded to the Golden State Valkyries in exchange for 8th overall pick Flau\u2019jae Johnson.<\/p>\n

But her time in Golden State did not last long, as after only one preseason game, she was waived and later signed by the Mercury on a developmental contract. Suarez made her regular-season debut in Phoenix\u2019s sixth game against the Los Angeles Sparks in a uniquely memorable fashion \u2014 she fouled out in just nine minutes of play.<\/p>\n

That debut quickly made it clear what to expect from Suarez: a highly physical presence who is going to compete in every possession, and maybe talk a little trash along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always love to talk shit,\u201d Suarez said with a smile at a team shootaround, recalling her \u201cwelcome to the league\u201d moment when veteran Natasha Cloud<\/a> was jawing at her during a game. \u201cI understand my position as a rookie \u2014 I\u2019m not going to start it. I might say a little something behind, but if you keep going, I\u2019m going to be right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she\u2019s never played more than 15 minutes in a game and has logged several DNPs thus far, the spurts Phoenix have gotten from Suarez tend to carry more energy than what one would expect in such limited time.<\/p>\n

No game was that more apparent than on July 9 against the Indiana Fever<\/a>, where Suarez served as an undersized backup center, tasked with guarding MVP candidate Aliyah Boston<\/a> in brief stretches while Alyssa Thomas<\/a> rested on the bench. In just 11 minutes, Suarez scored a career-high 10 points and knocked down both 3-point attempts.<\/p>\n

Phoenix proceeded to lose in a close game, but Suarez ended up in the box score +5, one of only three Mercury players with a positive plus-minus.<\/p>\n

\"MartaJul 2, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Marta Suarez (77) against the Seattle Storm at Mortgage Matchup Center. (Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, Suarez\u2019s best of the season came on the very same day the Mercury took Suarez off of her developmental contract and placed her on a seven-day contract, putting her future with the team in question.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI love basketball,\u201d Suarez said postgame. \u201cI\u2019m playing the long game, so at the end of the day, it\u2019s just about everyday work and doing what I can. Wherever I can step in this season and help this team, that\u2019s what I want to do. That\u2019s what I think I pride my versatility on. So other than that, there\u2019s no pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After appearing in games against Minnesota and Las Vegas, Suarez signed another seven-day contract on July 17, which is due to expire on Friday. With only one more seven-day contract available to sign before hitting the maximum a single player can sign consecutively, it will be interesting to see what Phoenix does with one of its only young rookies on the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By all accounts, Suarez is someone the organization is really high on and believes is one of the hardest workers on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s done a really, really good job as far as just staying ready,\u201d Toliver said. \u201cI walk into the gym at 7, she\u2019s already on the gun, shooting jump shots. She\u2019s just a worker \u2026 Extremely excited for her, I thought she rebounded the ball very well, gave us second and third opportunities, and then offensively, we know what she does. She wants to score. She has a knack for the rim, and just to see her contributions means a lot for our group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarta\u2019s an extremely hard worker,\u201d Tibbetts added after the game against Indiana. \u201cBasketball is extremely important to her. She\u2019s a worker. She\u2019s not afraid of anything. She\u2019s not afraid of competing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Suarez\u2019s future with the Mercury remains uncertain. With center Natasha Mack<\/a> returning from injury, Suarez\u2019s strength as a physical big has become less needed. She hasn\u2019t touched the floor once in the two games since Mack\u2019s return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think her and the front office and her agent currently understand what the plan is,\u201d Tibbetts said before playing the Connecticut Sun on July 17. \u201cI think Marta is going to compete no matter what. I don\u2019t think she\u2019s worried about the business side of it, just like I\u2019m not. That\u2019s more on the agent and our front office.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different aspects that come into the game,\u201d Suarez said after signing her first seven-day contract. \u201cI can\u2019t even imagine how hard the business part of it all has to be. But sometimes it\u2019s just about fit and injuries and roster spots, and I think every player, especially here, is so unique. You\u2019re just trying to figure out how to play everybody together and how to make those things work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Val\u00e9riane Ayayi\u2019s patience is rewarded<\/p>\n

The most surprising development of the Mercury\u2019s recent offseason was losing star forward Satou Sabally<\/a> in free agency to the New York Liberty. With everyone wondering what they would do to replace her, many were even more surprised to see that the main name to do so was Val\u00e9riane Ayayi.<\/p>\n

\"ValerianeJul 9, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Valeriane Ayayi (11) against the Indiana Fever at Mortgage Matchup Center. (Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Ayayi played in the WNBA briefly back in 2015, but carved out a successful career overseas in various European leagues and for the France national team.<\/p>\n

When the 32-year-old signed with Phoenix, she was projected to be a versatile forward with size that could immediately come into the starting lineup and do a little bit of everything. However, it didn\u2019t exactly play out like that.<\/p>\n

After starting and playing 17 minutes in her season debut, Tibbetts moved her to the bench. Not too long later, she was out of the rotation entirely.<\/p>\n

But then on June 20, Ayayi reemerged out of nowhere and poured in 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 on free throws during a big win over the Storm. She followed that up by scoring 19, 20 and 18 points in three of the next four games, cementing her place back in the rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was going to take [Ayayi] a little bit of time,\u201d Toliver said after the final game of that stretch. \u201cJust like all the [European players]. Not only have they been playing year-round, that takes time, there\u2019s going to be highs and lows, peaks and valleys, going from playing EuroLeague now into the W.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the front office, they did a phenomenal job, and they knew who she was,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re all getting to see it. We get to be fortunate enough to see it every day in practice, and all she needed was confidence, belief from her teammates, from the coaching staff. And I think now she\u2019s able to kind of display the kind of brand of basketball that she has.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s very versatile with her length and her size, and we can use her in a lot of different ways. She\u2019s kind of a Swiss Army knife in that regard. We just got to keep building the right habits. She\u2019s put in a lot of work in practice in the last month, month and a half, and you\u2019re starting to see it. So, she\u2019s only going to continue to blossom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Mercury\u2019s four wins from June 20 to July 2, Ayayi averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 made threes per game with a 52.5% field-goal percentage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough for me, of course, not to play,\u201d Ayayi said at shootaround on July 2. \u201c[Mostly] it was about losing, you know? Just to not be able to contribute in the game, that was hard \u2026 I\u2019m 32, I\u2019ve never been through this situation, so that was the first time. I\u2019m pretty happy with the way I handled it, but most important for me is that we started winning games.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and the team have cooled off a bit since then, but Ayayi is now comfortable with her role as an experienced role player who can start or come off the bench and do whatever the team needs \u2014 exactly what the plan for her all along.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I signed with Phoenix, they told me they wanted [me to relieve Thomas] from doing everything\u2026\u201d Ayayi said. \u201c\u2026I\u2019m just trying to make my team better, my teammates better. Sometimes scoring, sometimes passing, it will be defending, rebounding, whatever. I just want to be there for my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 The Phoenix Mercury are headed into the All-Star break with a 10-18 record and on the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":954640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[4552,5229,5643,1587,150562,50149,193979,35694,1589,1502,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,354108,232],"class_list":["post-954639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-kristi-toliver","tag-lexi-held","tag-marta-suarez","tag-nate-tibbetts","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-valeriane-ayayi","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116970972796891354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}