Frank Kaminsky proves again why he’s a valuable member of Suns’ roster

PHOENIX — At the age of 28 years old, it feels like Frank Kaminsky has found his niche in the NBA.

A lottery pick in 2015 that transitioned from playing power forward to being more of a 5, Kaminsky is in a system with the Phoenix Suns that suits him and maximizes his talents.

Phoenix’s win Tuesday over the New Orleans Pelicans allowed Kaminsky to showcase that, with Deandre Ayton (right leg contusion) out and JaVale McGee struggling in the first half.

Kaminsky was superb all game, providing the playmaking stretch 5 dynamic the team misses with Dario Saric (torn ACL) sidelined.

Williams started Kaminsky over McGee to open the third quarter, and with the Pelicans aggressively trapping Chris Paul, it put Kaminsky in a spot where he could score.

He played his tail off, running the floor and finding the positions to benefit from the attention Paul drew.

Kaminsky’s primary value in the offense is in a role head coach Monty Williams refers to as a “connector.” The big man has been playing for Williams since the coach got to the Valley in the summer of 2019 and has a high-level understanding of how Williams wants things to keep chugging.

These are all simple plays that a lot of centers could make, but Kaminsky’s high basketball IQ and skill allow him to be far more consistent than most.

Kaminsky said Wednesday you can hear the opposing big call out the coverage, which lets Kaminsky know he’s going to play in “that pocket” around the foul line on short rolls like that.

“Just being able to catch the ball and not panic and make plays for others,” Kaminsky said.

The national college player of the year in 2015 said that getting double-teamed for the majority of his last two seasons in Wisconsin helped him improve more rapidly with slowing down and reading the way a defense shifts.

“Catch the ball and turn and just scan,” he described it as, an apt visual for the player Paul has called “an amazing quarterback.”

Kaminsky contributed 17 points and three assists against New Orleans but his biggest impact might have been on the defensive end.

He had a career-high four steals, and when you add in fighting for position to force a turnover and creating another by taking a charge, he played a hand in six Pelicans miscues.

Kaminsky put in some work this offseason to improve his lateral quickness as a 5 defending ball screens.

That end of the court has been his weak point in his career, and while the Pelicans went at him in the first half, he still did a really good job of being in the right spots. He also battled like hell with the Pelicans’ Jonas Valanciunas, one of the best brutes the league has to offer.

“He had really good body position all night long,” Williams said Wednesday. “In the post on Valanciunas, squared to the sideline, his legs were wide, he had a great base — Valanciunas is a load.”

Kaminsky also saw that agility improvement pay off when defending an isolation.

“That’s why you put in the work,” Kaminsky said. “There’s situations where you never know when your name is going to be called. Deandre being hurt, can’t expect things like that to happen, but over the course of a long season people are going to get hurt, people are going to miss games so you gotta be ready to go at all moments.

“I know I want to become a better defender from that 5 position and it takes a lot of hard work but I’m willing to do it.”

That all-around play gave Kaminsky a well deserved plus-minus of +18 in his first crack at playing in the rotation through six games.

Williams said he wants to figure out how to get Kaminsky time, but that’s obviously difficult once Ayton gets back and with McGee already in the fold. But given the way Kaminsky can usually be effective even if he hasn’t played in a while, he’s shown that he can give the Suns a different look if it’s something Phoenix can exploit in opposing defenses.

That makes Kaminsky valuable and a piece of the roster that can’t be overlooked.

Follow @KellanOlson