Suns preparing for difficult 1st test in Mavs; Kaminsky’s return ‘perfect’

The Phoenix Suns will likely separate themselves this season into the upper half of the Western Conference, and they open the season against one of the teams they could be battling with for positioning in that area.

The Dallas Mavericks join the likes of Phoenix, Portland and Utah as the four teams below a strong top-3 in the West of the Los Angeles teams and Denver. The Suns will take the Mavericks on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., a national TV affair on ESPN you can also hear on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Dallas won 43 games last season behind the play of First Team All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, who enters the season as Las Vegas’ favorite for MVP.

While a lot of the Mavericks’ success was due to Doncic, it was also because of the good fits around him as complimentary pieces, players that Suns head coach Monty Williams was sure to name when asked specifically about defending Doncic.

“He’s a high usage guy, one of the highest in the league but they have a really good team,” Williams said Monday. “(Tim) Hardaway (Jr.) is a guy that can do more than shoot the ball. They’ve added some guys like (Josh) Richardson, who’s a two-way player. And then you look at (Maxi) Kleber — his ability to dive and pop and play with force. (Dorian) Finney-Smith plays with energy, he can make shots.

“They have one of those teams where if you just focus on one person you can get beat by the other really good players. And so our focus for sure is on Luka because he warrants that but they have a number of guys that can get it done.”

Williams also mentioned backup point guard Jalen Brunson being back after Dallas didn’t have him in the bubble. The Mavericks will be without Kristaps Porzingis, as he continues to rehab back from his latest knee injury.

Dallas’ simple formula of shooters around Doncic will test the Suns’ defensive rotations from the jump. It doesn’t sound like much all-around devastation on paper outside of Doncic, but remember, the Mavericks had the number one offense in the NBA last season. A 115.9 offensive rating was nearly three points higher than the team in second.

Suns shooting guard Devin Booker said Tuesday a lot of the opener comes down to execution.

“Playing against Dallas is always tough,” he said. “You know what you’re getting, starting with the head of the snake Luka. Very talented player that’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot of the game making plays for his teammates, but very balanced as well with the scoring. You just have to make it tough on him.”

While the Mavericks always present opponents the question of how to defend Doncic, the Suns’ first game also gives us the first real glimpse at an opponent not equipped to defend two elite-ball handlers in Booker and Chris Paul. While Richardson and Booker have had great battles over the years, that leaves Doncic or Hardaway to guard Paul. Dallas could put Richardson on Paul, but now who guards Booker?

It’s quite the luxury for Phoenix to have and one they’ll benefit from throughout the season.

THE TANK RETURNS

The Suns claimed former big man Frank Kaminsky off waivers on Tuesday after the Sacramento Kings released Kaminsky on Sunday.

Kaminsky was signed to a non-guaranteed minimum deal by Sacramento and fills the Suns’ 15th roster spot, an opening created when Phoenix waived Johnathan Motley Saturday.

“I love it,” Booker said, calling it a “perfect” move. “Frank is a great guy, a hard worker. He already knows the culture and fits right into this culture.”

Williams said Tuesday he doesn’t know when they’ll be able to get Kaminsky in the building, as COVID-19 protocols have to be met.

“Frank is a guy who knows our system, who knows what we do,” Williams said. “When you look at the bigs that are out there right now, and as it relates to continuity, we thought it would be a good idea to bring someone back that knows how we play, how we operate, just to help with all the newness that we have here. Frank was good for us before he went down last year and we haven’t forgotten that.”

Kaminsky will challenge the likes of Damian Jones and Jalen Smith for playing time, a more pertinent discussion after key reserve Dario Saric missed the entire preseason due to soreness in his right quad.

“I referred to him as a connector last year in that second unit and that’s something that’s valuable to us so we’ll see where he is (at) when we get him,” Williams said.

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