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Same old story

Lauri Markkanen is set to make his Suns debut this upcoming week. Given the number of injuries to the Suns, especially at PF and C, they will likely start Lauri at center, and allow Khem Birch to play off the bench extended minutes. Perhaps his shooting abilities will prove invaluable, as the Suns are having a hard time beating better opponents without their starting C, DeMarcus Cousins.

The injuries have continued to hit Phoenix. KD still has not suited up for the Suns, playing only 3 games all year so far. The hope was that he would return post all star game, but has been held out another week, possibly two, as precautionary measures to protect him for the playoffs. That would be great for sure, as the Suns have been fortunate enough to still win occasionally with Butler and Lowry, but still would like to have their best player on the court more.

There have been quiet rumblings that maybe the Suns should not have traded away Holmes to get Lauri, seeing the current depth issues with big men, but at the time, it seemed like the best move to make. Homes is likely leaving via free agency, but at least Lauri is a restricted free agent and Phoenix can decide to keep or trade him away next year.

It is very surprising to see how poorly the Suns have been shooting this season. They were expected to be high efficiency, but don’t have a single player with 51% shooting or better. That they are still sitting comfortably tied for 3^rd in the conference is very surprising, given their number of injuries. At 13-10 with one more loss expected for the week, against the Clippers, week 8 doesn’t look any easier, as the Suns face the Clippers(again), Boston and the Hawks. All three teams could easily hang losses on Phoenix next week. Hopefully, Markkanen can prove to be the missing piece as Cousins and Durant continue to not play.

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