Observations from the Suns’ open practice at Talking Stick Resort Arena

A ton of fans came out to see the Suns take the court at Talking Stick Resort Arena for the first time on Sunday afternoon, and it was far more entertaining than last season.

More showed up even after Duane’s tweet here:

We hope everyone who was there enjoyed themselves, but for those who didn’t, we’ve got you taken care of here.

Injury watch

The biggest storyline of training camp thus far (as with most teams) has been health. Any worries about guys missing significant time with the injuries they’ve suffered in camp should go away. Just about everyone was on the court for the drill portion of the open practice.

Mikal Bridges (right knee bruise), Kelly Oubre Jr. (right hand tendinitis) and Jalen Lecque (left ankle sprain) were all going close to 100 percent. Only Aron Baynes (nasal fracture, supposed to be re-evaluated Sunday) and David Kramer (left tibia stress reaction) were not on the court, though Kramer was on the sideline watching and supporting teammates.

It has to be a seen as good news that Bridges, Lecque and Oubre were out there, and could indicate that they also participated in the real practice the Suns had on the practice court before the open portion above-ground. We still won’t see those three in game action any time soon, but one would think their limited participation is merely to avoid further injury.

Other notes

The team didn’t scrimmage at the open practice this year, but everything else was basically the same. We did get to see more drills, however, including Deandre Ayton getting up the threes and LOVING IT. Why didn’t we get to see this more last season, again?

As everyone has been saying, Ty Jerome was super vocal, even in the awkward open practice setting. He’s helpful and supportive of everyone on the team and is already comfortable enough to take charge.

Also: Ty Jerome can dance. The Suns again closed the show with the Rookie Dance-Off. Tariq Owens and Jalen Lecque were the finalists, but Jerome gets my vote.

Here’s Lecque’s get down:

Real basketball is on Tuesday. Get hyped.