Charlotte Hornets: Frank Kaminsky will have chance at rejuvenation in Phoenix
Another player from last years Charlotte Hornets team has signed elsewhere, as Frank Kaminsky will have a shot to turnaround his career after agreeing to a deal with the Suns.
Free Agency is underway, and while a lot of big names are off the board, some role players are starting to follow, such as Charlotte Hornets big Frank Kaminsky.
Kaminsky is set to sign a two-year, $10 million deal with the Phoenix Suns, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. About a week ago, I wrote about the reported interest that Phoenix had in the former Wisconsin Badger, and how it could be a sneaky good pickup for them.
The Hornets did not tender a qualifying offer to Kaminsky, which made him an unrestricted Free Agent. After his second half of the season surge, he was garnering interest from teams around the league, and gave the Hornets something to think about in terms of whether or not to bring him back.
Free agent Frank Kaminsky has agreed to a two-year, $10M deal with the Suns, agent @KB_Sports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
During the 2018-19 season, Kaminsky owned averages of 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds. He shot 46 percent overall and 36 percent from deep. Post All-Star break, he averaged an impressive 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22.6 minutes.
As you can see with his post All-Star break stats, Kaminsky entered the rotation during the second half of the season and made a huge impact. Before that, he was mostly out of the rotation and was even a heavily discussed name during the Trade Deadline.
At one point, it seemed like a trade was inevitable for him. Instead, Mitch Kupchak opted to hang on to him, and Kaminsky remained professional throughout everything, so you’ve got to respect that. His four-year career in Charlotte may be considered a bust to most, but he had some good moments and proved that he’s a legit NBA rotational player.
Now, Kaminsky will be joining a Suns team that has struggled mightily over the past five seasons. They’ve been dead last in the Western Conference Standings for three consecutive years, but they have a lot of young talent and hope surrounding the organization, so Kaminsky could be a piece to the seemingly never-ending puzzle in Phoenix.
He’ll be entering a good situation when it comes to playing time, as the Suns have just one true power forward on the roster currently, and that’s Dario Saric, who came over in a trade with Minnesota. Having a stretch big like Kaminsky next to Deandre Ayton would be nice, but they’d also be one of the worst defensive front courts in the league and would give up a lot of points.
Kaminsky did shown some signs of improvement on that end of the floor this year though, so hopefully he can keep working towards becoming a better defensive player. He has his obvious strengths in three-point shooting and overall feel for the game, so that should be enough for him to land time in Phoenix.
This could be a good opportunity for Kaminsky to sort of turnaround his NBA career. He had a lot of ups-and-downs in Charlotte, but the chance at minutes and playing with a team that can get more out of him will be good for him.
Next. Monk benefits the most from Lamb's departure. dark
With his departure, the Charlotte Hornets have now lost three key Free Agents in Kaminsky, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb. It’s clear that the team will be going into rebuild mode, so they will need contributions from the younger players right away. PJ Washington could be the main player to absorb Kaminsky’s minutes.