New Suns PF Frank Kaminsky details his free agency process

Despite October being the first time he will suit up in a Suns uniform, Phoenix and Frank Kaminsky have a long history.

“When I go back four years all the way to the draft, that was one of the teams that I was really interested in going to,” Kaminsky told 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Bickley and Marotta Thursday.

The fifth-year big man went No. 9 overall in that 2015 NBA Draft to the Charlotte Hornets and signed a two-year, $10 million contract with the Suns this July.

“It kind of began during the season last year,” he said of free agency. “Things weren’t going the way I wanted in Charlotte. So you hear about teams that are interested in you, whether it be via trade or whatever, and I know Phoenix was a team that was interested. I could tell how interested they were in me.”

He said the Suns were one of the first calls he received when free agency officially opened, which had an impact on him.

“That’s something that really sticks out to me: people who want you,” Kaminsky said. “That’s something that you always want to find in the NBA. You always want to find a team that wants you and is willing to give you the opportunity to come in and help win and help change the culture.”

Despite Phoenix’s heavy interest, Kaminsky said free agency was quite the process.

“It’s pretty stressful, I’ve got to be honest,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty. You hear a lot of things but you don’t know what exactly is going to happen. You have ideas in your head. You have destinations that you like. But those things may never come into fruition.”

The Suns, though, did.

“I’m lucky,” Kaminsky said. “Phoenix was a place I really wanted to go to. My agent did a good job working with their front office and figuring out something that would work for both of us.”

Kaminsky praised his offensive game but also understood some of the advances he must make on the defensive end.

“I’m a versatile offensive player,” he said. “I’m able to do a lot of different things with the ball in my hands, without the ball in my hands.

“I think the thing I’m more proud of that I’ve done in the last couple of years is probably being able to create offense for other people on the team. I think that comes with learning the nuances of the NBA, learning other teams’ defenses, learning how to play in different situations, whether it be a switch, mismatches, different things like that.

“I’m really looking forward to improving and showing people that I can improve on the defensive end. That’s one of the biggest knocks against my game. That’s all going to change.”