Grayson Allen is back at the Mortgage Matchup Center on Thursday, and the return comes with plenty of good memories attached.
One of the biggest came during his time with the Phoenix Suns, when he erupted for 42 points and came close to breaking the franchise record for made 3-pointers in a game. That was the kind of night that showed how far his game had come in just one season.
Allen entered Phoenix known mainly as a shooter, but his role expanded fast. He turned into a downhill scorer, a playmaker and the kind of microwave scorer who could flip a game in a hurry. Suns head coach Jordan Ott challenged him last season, and Allen answered.
The partnership didn’t last beyond the offseason. Phoenix sent Allen and Royce O’Neale, along with the 2031 first-round pick, to Charlotte in the deal for Miles Bridges.
Even so, Allen’s feelings about the Suns clearly haven’t faded.
“It’s good to be back … Probably the team or place I feel like I have the most connection to,” Allen said via PHNX Suns reporter Gil McGregor on X (formerly Twitter).
That connection ran both ways. The Suns and their fans got a player who made an impact on the floor and around the community, and Allen also spent three seasons living through the franchise’s ups and downs. In that stretch, he played some of the best basketball of his career in purple and orange.
Now he’s bringing that veteran presence to a young Charlotte Hornets group. With injuries piling up, head coach Charles Lee has moved Allen into the starting lineup, and the production has looked familiar.
With the Hornets short-handed, Allen could be in line for another one of those nights that Suns fans remember.
In Other News...
Hornets Get Caught In A Suns Reunion With Extra Tension
The Suns arrive in Charlotte riding the momentum of a win over the Clippers, but this one carries a little more edge than a routine East-West stop. The Hornets are dealing with a long injury list, while Phoenix will be without Mark Williams because of offseason surgery, setting up a matchup that already has a different feel because of the personnel on both sides.
The trade that sent Miles Bridges to Phoenix and brought Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale to Charlotte still hangs over this meeting, especially with both teams continuing to sort out roles and rotation pieces around the deal. Jordan Ott has already talked about the value Allen and O'Neale can bring, and Bridges has been part of that same conversation from the Suns side, which gives this game a little extra tension even before the ball goes up. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Let A Winnable Game Slip Away For One Frustrating Reason
The Hornets had enough going for them in Phoenix to make this one feel winnable for long stretches. They rebounded well, shot the 3-ball effectively and took care of business at the line, the kind of ingredients that usually give a young team a chance on the road. Even with injuries forcing lineup shuffling, there were encouraging signs from the supporting cast and a promising look from Coby White before his night was kept in check.
What ultimately undid Charlotte was the part of the game that tends to travel the worst for a team still learning how to close. The ball kept slipping away at the wrong times, and the late-game execution never settled in enough to protect the lead it had built. For a Hornets group trying to patch together a rotation and find some consistency, the frustration was less about effort than about a familiar, self-inflicted problem that turned a manageable night into another missed opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Fans Have A Real Naz Reid Question To Watch
Naz Reids name has already started to surface in trade chatter as Charlotte tries to steady itself after a slow start, and that alone is enough to make this a storyline worth watching. The big man was brought in during the offseason deal that sent LaMelo Ball out, so his presence was supposed to be part of the next phase for the roster, not an early-season question mark.
Still, the longer the Hornets hover near the bottom of the standings, the more attention Reid is likely to draw from around the league. His contract gives Charlotte flexibility, but it also gives rival teams a reason to keep tabs on him, especially if the Hornets decide they need to reshape the roster rather than wait for the season to turn. [Read more 🡒]