Suns big man Frank Kaminsky out indefinitely with stress fracture

Right when Deandre Ayton comes back into the fold, Frank Kaminsky goes down indefinitely. The Suns can’t have a fully healthy roster, I guess.

Kaminsky has been dealing with soreness in his leg for a week or two, and has missed the last two games before today being shut down for at least a month to recover from a stress fracture.

Phoenix Suns forward/center Frank Kaminsky III will be sidelined indefinitely with a right patella stress fracture. There is no timetable set for his return and he will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks. Updates on his status will be provided as appropriate.

Stress fractures can last for months, so it’s quite possible we’ve seen the last Frank for quite a while.

Kaminsky was a valuable cog for the Suns this season, especially in the absence of starting center Deandre Ayton for 30 of the team’s 35 games, which included Aron Baynes being out for nine of them.

The Suns signed Frank as a fourth big to play spot minutes behind the center duo of Aron Baynes and Deandre Ayton, and backup power forward minutes behind Dario Saric. But the Suns needed Kaminsky a lot more than that, starting in game two.

Kaminsky is 6th on the Suns in minutes played this season (22.4 per game) in 32 games, posting career highs in rebounds per game (4.9), assists (2.2) and free throw attempts (2.8) while shooting 34.8% on threes and nearing a career high in points per game (11.0).

Now the Suns will lean hard into the three-big-man rotation with Dario Saric, Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes, along with a heavy dose of Mikal Bridges and Kelly Oubre Jr. taking time at the power forward spot in quicker lineups. Cheick Diallo will now become the emergency big off the bench in case of injury, foul troubles or just the need for size.

Sorry Frank.

And thank you for doing everything you possibly could while Ayton and Baynes were unavailable this year.

Get healthy and come back soon for the playoff push!