PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns head into Thursday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets with another clean-looking injury report, and that’s a welcome sight as they try to build on Tuesday’s blowout win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Phoenix lists only Mark Williams, who remains out after left shoulder surgery. He is still dealing with the torn labrum he suffered in an offseason workout.
Jordan Goodwin, meanwhile, is back in the mix. After missing three games with a calf injury, he returned Tuesday and made an immediate impact in the Suns’ 133-110 win, scoring a season-high 18 points while knocking down 6 of 7 shots from 3-point range.
“It's him every night. We talk about just his energy and his general enthusiasm for life and basketball is always at a high level," Suns coach Jordan Ott said after the game.
"And tonight on top of it, he made shots, so he's definitely improved in that area. It feels like every time it leaves his hands, it's going to go in.”
Charlotte’s availability picture looks much messier. Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, Dennis Schroder and Hannes Steinback are all out, while Moussa Diabate and Grant Williams are probable.
The matchup also brings a few familiar faces back to Phoenix. Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale will face the Suns for the first time since being traded to Charlotte this offseason in the deal that brought Miles Bridges to Phoenix. Bridges, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Hornets, will also be back on the other side.
The Suns have had a rough opening stretch, but the schedule has been brutal. They’ve already played the toughest slate in the NBA, and so far they’ve handled the two games against teams under .500 with ease, including the Clippers win.
That doesn’t erase the early stumbles against stronger opponents, but it does suggest Phoenix has more to show than the ugly losses have revealed.
Thursday offers another chance to back that up. Charlotte comes in after losing six straight before beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, and the Hornets’ offense has been a major problem all season. Their 101.9 offensive rating is the worst in the league, and they also sit last in field-goal percentage at 40% and turnovers at 19 per game.
For a Suns team still trying to sharpen its defense after opening the year near the bottom of the league, that sets up a favorable test.
If Phoenix keeps playing with the same identity it showed last season, it should be in good shape against Charlotte.
Tipoff is set for shortly after 7 p.m. MST.
In Other News...
Hornets' Slow Start Just Reopened The LaMelo Ball Trade Debate
Charlottes uneven start has already pushed the LaMelo Ball trade back into the conversation, and Bill Simmons used his podcast to frame the deal as something that still needs time to breathe. He and co-host Rob Mahoney looked at where the Hornets stand now, with Brandon Millers role part of the broader picture, and argued that the early read on the move is still far too incomplete to settle into a verdict.
The trade sent Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota in exchange for Naz Reid, multiple future draft picks and a trade exception, but the bigger question is how all of it looks once the season settles in. Charlottes 4-7 record has only sharpened the debate around whether the front office got enough back, and the unresolved piece around Reid keeps the discussion from feeling anywhere close to finished. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Miller Still Has Face Of The Hornets Pressure To Prove It
Brandon Miller arrived in Charlotte as the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and he has already shown why the Hornets were so eager to bet on his scoring. The next step is less about flashes and more about consistency, because Charlotte needs him to become a steadier presence on both ends while continuing to grow into a more complete player.
The Hornets have also been asking for more than shot-making, with Miller expected to sharpen his playmaking as the young roster keeps taking shape around him. Health has been part of the conversation, too, and that only adds to the pressure on a player the franchise wants to see on the floor and carrying more of the load as his role continues to expand. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Face A Real Naz Reid Dilemma In This Trade Debate
A speculative trade idea has put Naz Reid squarely in the middle of a Charlotte debate, even though theres no indication the Hornets and Trail Blazers are actually talking. The proposal imagines Portland sending Scoot Henderson, Yang Hansen and two second-round picks to Charlotte for Reid, which is the kind of framework that forces both sides to weigh fit, timeline and value rather than just talent.
For the Hornets, the appeal is obvious: Reid is the sort of versatile frontcourt piece who can raise the floor of a roster and give the team more lineup flexibility. The problem is making a deal like that work in a way that feels fair to Charlotte while still giving Portland a reason to move on from a young guard and a promising big, and thats where the conversation gets tricky. [Read more 🡒]