With the new NBA season fast approaching, the Phoenix Suns are reuniting with a familiar face, veteran Frank Kaminsky. His agency, Priority Sports, confirmed that Kaminsky will participate in the Suns’ training camp.
Kaminsky played last season with Serbian club Partizan Belgrade but is now back with the Suns, aiming for another opportunity at securing an NBA contract.
The 31-year old was initially selected as the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft following a stellar college career at Wisconsin.
Kaminsky spent two and a half seasons with the Suns before being waived in 2022. He was part of the 2021 team that reached the NBA Finals, where he played a key role in their eventual loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 7-footer appeared in 95 games for the Suns, averaging 8.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. In the 2021-22 season, he was expected to take on a larger role, logging 20.1 minutes per game, but a knee injury sidelined him after just nine games, keeping him out for a significant stretch.
Before his injury, Kaminsky posted a career-high 31 points in a game against the Portland Trailblazers. He was later waived in April 2022 and joined the Atlanta Hawks during the offseason.
At the trade deadline, Kaminsky was traded to the Houston Rockets, where he played in only 10 games. Following that brief stint, he moved to the EuroLeague, joining Partizan Belgrade. In 57 appearances for the team, he averaged 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
The Suns have one remaining roster spot, with 14 of 15 slots taken. Players on two-way contracts and Exhibit 10 deals will also join training camp, where Kaminsky will vie for the last spot. His ability as a stretch big could be a key asset for new head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Last season, the Suns relied on Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks for center depth, with Bol Bol and Kevin Durant also stepping in at the five when necessary. After Eubanks left in free agency, they brought in Mason Plumlee to serve as Nurkic’s backup.
Having a three-point shooting center is essential in Budenholzer’s system, as demonstrated by Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis during his tenure with the Bucks, along with Al Horford while he was head coach in Atlanta.
In his debut season with the Suns, Nurkic hit just 24.4% of his three-point attempts and has a career average of 28%. Plumlee lacks a deep shooting threat, while Bol Bol’s proficiency from beyond the arc could make him a key player this season.
This situation may create an opportunity for Kaminsky, who boasts a career three-point shooting percentage of 34.9%.
Despite a small sample size, Kaminsky demonstrated his shooting prowess by sinking 47.8% of his three-point attempts in 26 games with the Hawks during the 2022-23 season.
The Suns still need to determine their final roster spot, but a strong showing in training camp could greatly enhance Frank Kaminsky’s chances of making the team.
Mamadi Diakite and Moses Wood have also joined Phoenix on training camp agreements. The Suns will kick off training camp on October 1 at their practice facility and begin the 2024-25 regular season on October 23 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Jordan Clarkson has been an extremely productive scorer over his 11 NBA seasons. He finished last year (with the Utah Jazz) averaging 16.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest while shooting 40.8% from the field and 36.2% from the three-point range in 37 games. This summer, Clarkson signed a deal with the New York Knicks. Recently, Jalen Brunson spoke about the signing (via Roommates Show). Brunson: "I know him. Talked to him for a little bit. Good dude. Surrounds himself with good people that I know. A great addition for us, for sure." Clarkson was the 46th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. For being such a late selection, he has done an excellent job of carving out a long career. Over the previous 11 seasons, the 33-year-old has also spent time with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Clarkson won the 2021 6th Man of The Year Award (with Utah). He has career averages of 16.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per contest while shooting 43.6% from the field and 33.6% from the three-point range in 753 games. Via The NBA (on March 14): "THIS JORDAN CLARKSON PLAY Spins around 1 defender... puts the ball through the legs... and drops off a dime."
Since taking over as the general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders, John Spytek and Raiders Head Coach, Pete Carroll, have emphasized how critical it will be for them to establish a new culture for their team. After years of subpar play, the Raiders needed to improve their culture equally as much as they needed to improve their roster. Spytek wasted no time significantly improving the Raiders' roster, adding Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty this offseason. Although a culture change usually takes more than offseason, the Raiders may have expedited the process by releasing veteran defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. The organization and Wilkins were not on the same page in regard to his rehab, pushing the Raiders to make a drastic move. While drastic, the move appears to align with Spytek's intended composition of the Raiders' roster. At the NFL Combine months before Wilkins' recent release, the Raiders' general manager explained what he would take into consideration when assembling the Raiders' roster. While Spytek likely figured Wilkins would be part of the team at the time, his words rang true following the veteran defensive tackle's release. “I think we're going to have a lot of positive energy. The guys that love to compete and play with passion are going to have a chance at our place. And the guys that maybe don't have that love of the game, they like it, it's a means to an end, there probably won't be as many places or spaces for them at our place," Spytek said. "I think we want to set the tone with our film. When people watch a week or two out for our games coming, like they want to know, like this is going to be a battle, this is going to be physical, this is going to be old-school football." It is challenging to maintain positive energy when a player who has only played five games with the Silver and Black fails to uphold their end of a contract worth over $100 million. Shortly after releasing Wilkins, the Raiders issued the following statement. "We have decided that it is in the best interests of the organization to move on from Christian Wilkins. This franchise has a Commitment to Excellence on and off the field. With no clear path or plan for future return to play from Christian, this transaction is necessary for the entire organization to move forward and prepare for the new season." The Raiders' words spoke loudly enough, but they did not say nearly as loudly as the actual move of releasing Wilkins. Full details of why the Raiders decided to move on from Wilkins after just one season remain unclear, but one thing is clear: the Raiders' new-look front office means business. Find us on X (formerly Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and Instagram @HondoSr and weigh in on this take. While here, check out our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE to discuss this take
Joe Milton III is experiencing training camp with his second NFL team in as many seasons, and the young quarterback says he has already noticed some significant differences. Milton was traded from the New England Patriots to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason in a somewhat surprising move. At practice on Thursday, the former Tennessee quarterback told reporters he has been surprised by how much mentoring he has received from Dak Prescott. Milton then seemed to take a swipe at his former team. "Dak is a great leader. … All respect to him. He literally goes out of his way to help me," Milton said. "I’ve been in another building. I know how that goes. It’s just very different over here.” Milton played behind fellow rookie Drake Maye in New England last season. He could not have expected the No. 3 overall pick to mentor him, so it is possible he was taking a shot at Jacoby Brissett, who was also on the Patriots' roster last year. Either way, it seems clear that Milton is having a better time in Dallas than he did last year. Milton gave a funnier reason for being happy about his trade to the Cowboys earlier this offseason.
The Hurricanes announced Thursday night that they’ve signed winger Jackson Blake to an eight-year, $45M extension that will kick in for the 2026-27. While that would normally mean an average annual value and cap hit of $5.625M, the actual cap hit of the contract will fall in the $5.1M range due to deferred compensation, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. The contract buys out the extent of Blake’s RFA eligibility and will make him a UFA following the 2033-34 season. Blake’s stock has been on the rise since immediately after Carolina selected him in the fourth round in 2021. He was a USHL All-Star in his post-draft season with the Chicago Steel before making the jump to NCAA hockey with North Dakota, where he totaled 102 points in 79 games in two seasons — earning a Hobey Baker finalist nod in his sophomore year. He signed his entry-level contract with the Hurricanes in April 2024 and joined them for the brief remainder of the regular season. In his first full pro season, Blake hit the ground running. He made the Canes out of camp and had five points through his first nine games despite seeing less than 12 minutes of ice time per night. That offense didn’t quite hold up the rest of the way, though. While he ended up seeing significant deployment alongside Sebastian Aho at even strength, he ended up finishing the year with a 17-17–34 scoring line in 80 games, finishing ninth on the team in scoring and ninth in Calder Trophy voting as the league’s Rookie of the Year. That’s fine production, especially considering he averaged under 14 minutes per game on the year. He’ll need to build on it to justify that cap hit, though, especially with so much risk attached to a max-term deal. The good news is that Blake has another year left on his entry-level contract to continue his development before he’ll need to start justifying that cap hit. The son of former NHLer Jason Blake turns 22 next month, yet with this deal, he’s guaranteed to surpass his dad’s career earnings. The Hurricanes have historically opted to sign their young players for as long and as early as possible, a trend that continues here. Sometimes, it’s paid off — their eight-year, $59.4M commitment to Seth Jarvis last offseason looks like a steal after he put up a repeat 67-point performance in 2024-25. There’s also the glaring example of where that strategy has failed regarding center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, whose $4.82M cap hit looks more stomachable now with a rising ceiling but is still well above his market value four years into the deal. The jury is still out on newly acquired Logan Stankoven, who they inked to an eight-year, $48M extension at the beginning of the month. Blake’s deal will be one of the last of its kind. It contains two elements — deferred compensation and an eight-year term — that will be outlawed when the new CBA Memorandum of Understanding takes effect on Sep. 15, 2026. If he waited until reaching RFA status next summer to sign, a lengthy negotiation could have lost him that eighth year if the two sides didn’t come to terms until the beginning of training camp. With the salary cap’s upper limit projected to reach $104M in 2026-27, the Hurricanes have around $16M in projected space with Blake’s and Stankoven’s deals taken care of. While they’re projected to be Carolina’s 11th- and 12th-highest-paid forwards on their opening night roster this season, they’ll be their fifth- and sixth-highest-paid forwards in 2026-27.