Luke Kennard's Knee Strain Puts Suns' Spacing on Hold for Season Opener
Coach Jordan Ott noted that Tuesday was a test day in practice before ultimately deciding to hold Kennard out for Wednesday.
The have not even tipped off their regular season yet, and their injury report is already in midseason form. Head coach Jordan Ott officially ruled out Luke Kennard for Wednesday's opener against the Portland Trail Blazers thanks to a left knee tendon strain.
If you were hoping to see the league's reigning three-point king start spacing the floor for right out of the gate, you are going to have to wait. Kennard landed awkwardly on a runner during a preseason exhibition against the , and his knee has been barking ever since.
Missing your top perimeter sniper before the games even count is the exact kind of bad luck that makes you question why we even play preseason basketball. Kennard led the entire association in made threes last year. Taking that kind of gravity off the floor instantly changes the math for the second unit.
For anyone staring at Wednesday's prop market, this scratches a major bench scorer off the board and completely scrambles the rotation. It also opens a massive window for Ryan Dunn to soak up those vacated minutes. If Dunn can actually hit from deep to go with his defensive chops, he might just steal a permanent spot in Ott's rotation while Kennard is in sweatpants.
The silver lining here is that Ott does not seem worried about this being a long-term issue, calling Tuesday a test day before ultimately pulling the plug. Until Kennard is actually cleared, expect to lean heavier on their healthy stars and maybe even throw jumbo lineups out there with Drew Timme just to see what sticks.