Suns’ Landry Shamet set to return vs. Thunder, Cam Payne still out

After suffering a sprained ankle near the end of January, Phoenix Suns guard Landry Shamet is slated to return to action Thursday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Shamet was not listed on the injury report for the game after missing the past nine contests.

Injured guard Cameron Payne, however, is listed as out with a right wrist sprain. He joins PG Chris Paul (avulsion fracture) and forwards Dario Saric (ACL) and Frank Kaminsky (right knee) as out.

Shamet presents another ball-handler the Suns can utilize with Paul on the shelf. On Tuesday, Suns GM James Jones told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta that Phoenix would take a collective approach in making up for Paul’s absence, also noting the likes of Devin Booker, Elfrid Payton and recently acquired Aaron Holiday.

“We came into the offseason saying that we needed a deep team,” Jones said Tuesday. “If we were going to make a real run we’re gonna have to be able to go 9-10 months straight. And to do that you need depth at every position and you need players that are willing to step up to the challenge.

“So it’ll be a great challenge for us and we’ll miss him sorely dearly, but I’m confident in our staff and our players that will we’ll figure it out.”

This season (45 games), Shamet is averaging 7.4 points, 1.6 assists and 1.9 rebounds over 19.8 minutes of work.

Payne hasn’t played since Jan. 20 and is considered day-to-day. The team originally gave a two-week timeline for the 27-year-old to be re-evaluated, but there hasn’t been much of an update on the guard beyond a day-to-day status.

Payne joined Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Tuesday and more or less shared the same sentiment.

“It’s starting to feel better,” Payne said. “Still kind of having some little complications with it but right now it’s just day-to-day.”

When asked if he could be back within the next week or so, Payne added, “I’m praying for that too.”

Payne said he got shots up at the practice facility on Tuesday, which is at the least an encouraging sign of his progress.

The Suns return to action Thursday night against the Thunder. Tune to 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station for more.

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