The Suns will be without center Robin Lopez for about a month due to sprains of his left MCL and PCL. He has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Suns will need Channing Frye to step up as he will replace Lopez in the starting lineup. Frye has played in 10 games (1 start) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 28.2 minutes, 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Suns are going to need Frye to get on the glass because they are a tad undersized when Lopez isn’t on the floor.

The Suns have signed 25-year old small forward Jared Dudley to a 5-year extension worth $22.5 million bucks. Dudley has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Suns so far this year and he is averaging 19.0 minutes, 7.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Dudley has now played in 226 games (22 starts) in his NBA career so far and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 6.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 assist per game. Dudley is likely in line to be the starting small forward for the Suns when Grant Hill decides to hang up his sneakers so it was probably smart to lock him up.

The Suns have brought back 27-year old power forward Dwayne Jones who was traded to the Raptors over the summer in the Hedo Turkoglu-Leandro Barbosa trade. Jones played in 2 games for the Suns last season playing 7 scoreless minutes in which he had 2 rebounds. Jones has now played in 82 games (0 starts) in his five years in the NBA and he has averaged 7.8 minutes, 1.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. The Suns must have liked what they saw out of Jones in practice because he didn’t get much P.T. last year.

The Suns have released 2nd year small forward Taylor Griffin. Griffin played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Suns last season and he averaged 4.0 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. The Suns won’t miss Griffin at all as he’s barely a good enough player for the D-League.

The Suns have acquired 31-year old small forward Hedo Turkoglu from the Raptors for 27-year old SG Leandro Barbosa, 27-year old power forward Dwayne Jones and a trade exception. Turkoglu should fit right in with the running style of the Suns. He played in 74 games (69 starts) for the Raptors last season and he averaged 30.7 minutes, 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Turkoglu has now played in 752 games (443 starts) in his 10 years in the NBA and he has averaged 28.2 minutes, 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Barbosa was a solid player for the Suns. He played in 466 games (109 starts) in his 7 years with the Suns and he averaged 25.1 minutes, 12.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Dwayne Jones only played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Suns last season and he played 7 scoreless minutes getting one rebound. I like this move for the Suns.