Landry will travel to the first preseason game at Denver on Tuesday, according to a Paul Coro tweet, and though the Suns could use his rugged play and another body at the small forward position, he may have had another advantage in making the team through the shortened training camp.

“I played my first year with the New Knicks, that was coach (Mike) D’Antoni,” Landry said at Friday’s Media Day. “Of course, he was here (in Phoenix), great guy. I was traded to Boston. But to get here, you know, I guess they liked what I did in the D-League last year and the things that I did in the league. It’s a great experience and it’s going to be a great time.”

Undrafted out of Wisconsin, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward initially signed with D’Antoni’s New York Knicks as a rookie. There, he played 17 games off the bench before being traded to the Boston Celtics, who relegated Landry to the D-League for most of his time there.

The 26-year-old averaged 17.6 points and 4.4 rebounds with the Reno Bighorns of the D-League last season. Since, he was in Spain and France trying to find a home before the Suns called.

Landry averaged 2.4 points in just 6.2 minutes per game through a total of NBA 18 contests — he only saw one game of action with the Celtics — but his familiarity with D’Antoni’s structured yet shot-happy offense, although brief, made his quick transition to Phoenix all the more easy.

“The offense we run is similar to the offense I ran with D’Antoni,” Landry said. “That gives me an edge on some guys coming in and knowing the offense. As a team, we’ve been gelling.”

That advantage could even put Landry ahead of players like Shannon Brown and Ronnie Price as far as familiarity of the Suns’ system is concerned.

Brown has been adapting to the styles between former Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, and Suns head coach Alvin Gentry.

“Phil is more laid back, he’ll sit in his chair and tell us what we need to do,” Brown said. “Coach Gentry is more active.”

Price came from the more rigid play-calling of Jerry Sloan in Utah.

“Utah, you knew where the plays were going. You knew pretty much who was going to take the shot on that play,” Price said. “With this Phoenix offense, because of the free motion, a lot of pick-and-roll … the ball is moving constantly.

“You’ve got to be on your toes, ready to make a basketball play, ready to shoot the ball at any given time,” he added. “It’s going to take some time for me to get accustomed to it.”

Now that Landry has made the team for the time being, the next few games will key upon proving he can bring something extra to Phoenix. On Saturday, he was one of the more aggressive players in a 3-on-3 fastbreak drill, showing a solid mid-range jumper and an attacking mentality that found himself on the floor a few times.

“You know, the game is about opportunity,” Landry said of his chances of sticking. “As long as you get an opportunity to showcase what you can do, you can do a lot. As long as you’re focused and your mind is in the right place — it’s all about winning — you’ll be good.”

More from Marcus Landry

(on advice he gets from brother Carl Landry of the New Orleans Hornets): “We talk a lot. His advice to me right now is one practice, one day at a time. Just been taking one day at a time, and trying to come out against this team and just trying to be able to contribute.”

(on which Suns’ big men are standing out): “All of them have been great. (Robin) Lopez has been great. Channing Frye, everybody. All the bigs have really surprised me in how good they are and how prepared they are. Everybody is in shape.”

(on playing with greats like Steve Nash and Grant Hill): “I try to take a lot from those guys. Especially guys like Grant Hill who’s been around a long time and who plays my natural position. Especially Grant Hill … ever since I got here, kind, down to earth guy.”

(on what type of player he is): “I feel like I’m somebody who can do a lot of things. I can play anything from the two to the four. It makes me very versatile.”

PHOENIX — The Suns brought US Airways Center to Grand Canyon University Arena Wednesday during the squad’s annual intrasquad scrimmage that broke up the monotony of training camp drills.

GCU looked and sounded like a typical Suns game with their game operations staff and cheerleaders entertaining the crowd in what is an extra exhibition game for them as well.

The players enjoyed playing in front of a crowd during the 40-minute contest with a running clock in which the black team (AKA Nash’s team) beat the white team, 68-61.

“It was great to play in front of fans, it was also great just to come to play,” Nash said. “I think to get a chance just to have a morning off to rest our legs and come out and play a game tonight was a lot of fun. Guys played hard and I think the work we’ve been putting in has been paying off.”

It’s often hard to tell how much progress a team is making when facing off against their teammates, but Robin Lopez, Shannon Brown and Jared Dudley were among the Suns who stood out to me.

Two Time was his usual steady self as well, but he took just three shots as you would expect from him in a game like this. He did dish a game-high six assists, including a handful of perfectly executed pick-and-rolls, so no surprises there.

I made sure to focus in on Robin because if he reverts back to 2009-10 form, that changes the entire dynamic of this team. It’s far too early to make any such statements, but I really loved his activity in this game. He just seemed to have his bounce back, whether it was aggressively posting up Marcin Gortat or pursuing rebounds with a tenacity he’s lacked, well, ever.

Lopez finished the game with 12 points and a team-high six boards and just carried himself differently than the he did during his disappointing campaign last season.

“I’m really happy with Robin,” Nash said. “I think Robin has taken a big step from last year. He looks physically great and he looks hungry and he’s playing hard.”

Brown scored a team-high 16 points and looked comfortable with his jumper, draining one particular three in the grill of Dudley. However, amid a hot shooting streak Brown raced down the floor on a breakaway as the crowd held its collective breath waiting for Mr. “Let Shannon Dunk” to unleash a furious slam only for him to flub it.

“That dunk was thinking too much induced,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to windmill it.’ Then I was like, ‘Which hand?’ By the time I got up in the air it was like, ‘Ahhh.’ I got stuck. It was all fun, though.”

Still, Brown enjoyed his first opportunity to run with his new teammates in this new system in a game environment.

“I’m still getting used to it, being able to get to the old, old me where I feel I can score the ball at any time without even thinking about it,” Brown said, noting he doesn’t need to worry about coming out of the game just for making a mistake. “It just feels good. It’s slowly but surely coming back.”

Dudley also stood out for his steady play that led to 16 points. He always seemed to be in the right spot, at one point sneaking away from the defense for an open layup in a halfcourt situation. All the work Dudley put in this summer certainly was apparent.

It’s scary to think the Suns’ season opener is a mere 12 days away, being that the whole team has only been practicing together since Sunday.

That means this team has no shortage of work left before that Dec. 26 season opener against New Orleans, but for now the Suns just enjoyed competing in a game environment with their teammates for the first time in eight months.

“To be out there with my teammates, it just seems like so, so long ago,” Warrick said. “A few weeks ago it just felt like this wouldn’t come, so to get back out there with my teammates, it’s just great. To finally get out there and play, even though it’s still against the same people, it’s still great to go out there in that type of atmosphere.”

And 1

• Rookie forward Markieff Morris missed the scrimmage after banging knees in Tuesday night’s practice with Ronnie Price, The Arizona Republic reported. Mickael Pietrus was the only other Sun not to play.
• Speaking of Price, he played the kind of stiff on-ball defense he’s known for. He could be a nice change of pace point guard when the Suns need him to really get after an opposing guard.
• Warrick’s shot was dropping, even drilling a three while getting fouled at one point. “Today I really, really had it going,” he said.
• Gortat scored 11 points to go with a game-high nine boards. Channing Frye contributed a game-high 17 points and seven boards for the black team as well.
• On the other end of the spectrum, Sebastian Telfair knocked down just 1-of-9 shots and Grant Hill was 1-for-6 for the white team.
• The winning black team consisted of Nash, Gortat, Frye, Dudley, Josh Childress, Price and Marcus Landry. The white team featured Brown, Hill, Lopez, Telfair, Warrick, Garret Siler, Jeremy Hazell and Dwight Buycks.

PHOENIX -– During a typical offseason Phoenix Suns players trickle back to town by Labor Day and scrimmage for as many as six weeks before training camp begins, bonding time that has catapulted the Suns to surprisingly successful seasons in years past.

By the time October rolls around they have their legs back as well as a good feel for their teammates and can start working on the finer points of getting ready for a season at camp.

But six weeks before training camp began Saturday night on the campus of Grand Canyon University it looked like there would not even be a season to prepare for.

That makes this training camp critical not only to install new defensive principles and for conditioning sake but also for the Suns to gel on the fly to make up for all the time they lost to the lockout.

“For us chemistry’s crucial,” Jared Dudley said.

That’s the biggest reason the Suns elected to practice at a college campus despite it being so close to home. The team is going for a training camp feel, staying in a hotel and bussing back and forth just like they would at a training camp in San Diego or Tucson.

“I just think the whole atmosphere of kind of being away from there,” Gentry said, “I just think it’s a situation where staying in the hotel and going through this week can give us a little bit of a situation where we can bond a little bit and it gives you more of a camp type atmosphere I think.”

The Suns only had nine players available at Saturday’s opening practice since Grant Hill, Sebastian Telfair and Markieff Morris could not officially sign contracts before Vince Carter clears waivers, and Zabian Dowdell missed it due to pain under his right kneecap. Still, Gentry make sure his team concentrated on running, “making it a priority” on every play.

The coach felt the Suns’ players were very responsible about staying in great shape during the lockout but he acknowledged there’s a big difference between being in shape and being in basketball shape, Suns shape in particular. Frye estimated the Suns were at a seven or an eight pace-wise but said the more they run it will get to a nine or 10 and become second nature.

With time of the essence during training camp, Gentry said the Suns will have to cut down on their offensive work because he feels the need to establish the team’s new defensive philosophies through repetition.

Toward that goal the Suns will stage two-a-day practices Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at GCU with a scrimmage on Wednesday mixed in at Grand Canyon’s brand new arena. A full squad is expected by tomorrow evening’s session.

Everything will feel rushed about this upcoming NBA season — which amazingly starts in a mere two weeks — so along with running into game shape and improving the defense the Suns don’t have much time to develop the kind of chemistry that has led them to defy expectations a time or two during the Nash era.

“I think it’s really good this year,” Frye said. “We have a great core group of guys. I think we still need to grow that and establish what we have to accomplish this year.”

Pietrus trade called off

The Toronto Raptors backed out of the Mickael Pietrus trade, according to Paul Coro, after their medical staff determined Pietrus needed 2-4 more weeks before his right knee is healthy enough to play on.

Pietrus underwent minor surgery on the knee during the offseason. He was originally traded with cash for a conditional second-rounder from Toronto that had so many restrictions the Suns were unlikely to ever receive it.

The Suns wanted to dump Pietrus because their wing rotation is full and they would prefer not to pay Pietrus’ $5.3 million salary to ride the pine.

Coro believes the Raptors will fill that roster spot in another way, but Pietrus’ agent made the comment to Coro that the trade was “postponed” so perhaps it will be revisited in the future.

My fear is that the Suns will waste their amnesty clause on Pietrus just to get him off their books. Assuming they don’t pay Aaron Brooks more than his qualifying offer and don’t make any trade in which they absorb salary, the Suns should stay just under the luxury tax regardless.

Although the possibility of Pietrus having a bad attitude is disconcerting, I don’t mind having his expiring contract around in case the Suns have a big move to make midseason. With Nash, Hill, Brown and Telfair also on expiring deals, the Suns would have the flexibility to make moves if they decide to blow this up.

And 1

• The Suns officially signed Brown and waived Carter and Gani Lawal on Saturday.
• Gentry joking about the lack of available players at practice: “I thought maybe we had to go out and sign a few JUCO guys.”
• Frye on the condensed schedule: “If you’re a basketball player you probably like playing basketball, and everybody always complains about practice, so now you don’t have to practice, you just have to play. I think this year you will see a lot of teams either really grow together or just dispersing. It’s going to be interesting this year. Fantasy basketball teams are going to be switching around a lot.”
• Frye also said he plans to get to the free throw line more often rather than settling for jumpers. He shot a career high 83.2 percent from the line last season but only got there 107 times, the lowest total in his career aside from the 2008-09 season in Portland when he rarely played.

Earl Clark has yet to blossom into the player the Suns hoped for, and it's getting closer to now or never mode.

PHOENIX — There’s no hiding that there are a ton of questions surrounding the 2010-11 Phoenix Suns, but depth is not one of them.

Head coach Alvin Gentry has 12 players that could play on any given night, which every NBA coach yearns for.

But now comes the tough part for Gentry: figuring out who to play where and for how long.

“It’s going to be a challenge in the preseason, figuring out how all of these guys are going to fit together,” Gentry said during media day. “I think that’s going to be a huge factor.”

“We will experiment a lot in the preseason from the standpoint of rotations, certain guys together on the floor and certain guys playing different positions,” he added.

The preseason, which begins Tuesday, certainly isn’t going to define the season for anyone outside of players fighting for a roster spot, but there are a few guys that are on the “hot seat” so to speak.

These are players that, if they don’t prove that they are capable of what the Suns need them to do, won’t play.

Because there are so many players to choose from, it’s easy to fall out of the rotation, especially at the forward position where the Suns are deepest. With that said, here are three guys who are on the hot seat in terms of minutes:

Earl Clark

Earl Clark is a no-brainer (in terms of being on this list and on the court). He’s being asked to play strictly power forward this season, but figures to be the 11th man in the rotation.

Although Gentry said at the end of last season that he would be “disappointed” if Clark isn’t in the rotation this season, there’s a very good chance the second-year player gets buried on the bench once again. But because of the lack of defense amongst the Suns front line, Clark has a chance to play his way into a backup power forward role.

The tools have always been there, he just needs to put it together mentally and show he can play the four during the preseason, while becoming the “lockdown defender” Gentry is hoping he’ll be. If he doesn’t, Clark will sit.

Hakim Warrick

When the Suns initially signed Hakim Warrick, it looked like he’d be playing 30-plus minutes a game while serving as Phoenix’s dirt-cheap Amare replacement. But he quickly became the forgotten free agent signing after Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress came aboard, and if he doesn’t impress in the preseason and early on, Warrick could become lost on the bench.

The Suns need him to be a pick-and-roll threat and the prototypical power forward the roster lacks. But Warrick is a porous defender and gets pushed around a lot at only 219 pounds. His style of game should fit well in Phoenix, but there wasn’t much buzz around him during camp, which makes me think he may not have been as impressive as the Suns anticipated.

Turkoglu will start at the four, although he’ll probably only play 20 or so minutes at the actual position. That leaves about 28 minutes to Warrick, Clark and even rookie Gani Lawal, who probably won’t play much. Despite five years of NBA experience, this is his first year in Phoenix, and Warrick has to prove his worth or he could easily slide closer to the Gatorade cups.

Jared Dudley

Jared Dudley is the least likely player on this list to fall victim to the ramped up competition for minutes. He’s one of the team’s hardest workers, is in the best shape of his life and broke out last season.

But because Grant Hill and Childress, who exploded during camp, are ahead of him on the depth chart, Dudley needs to prove he deserves to be out on the floor as often as possible. Turkoglu will also be playing the three almost as much as the four, leaving even less minutes for Dudley.

Dudley supposedly added some new elements to his game, and if that expansion is apparent and he remains a sharpshooter and hustle maniac, he will find the floor. But the fact of the matter is, there are only so many minutes to go around.

In Saturday’s training camp scrimmage, he showed that we should be talking about his offensive game as well.

Childress scored a game-high 28 points on 11-for-13 shooting in the scrimmage to lead a team with Steve Nash, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley to a 101-80 defeat of a squad featuring Goran Dragic, Grant Hill, Robin Lopez and Channing Frye.

Here’s Paul Coro on Childress’ performance:

It was hard to tell with how often Childress beat teammates upcourt on fast breaks, cut in half-court offense, got steals and deflections and crashed the boards.

He had five rebounds Saturday, when he scored almost exclusively by moving without the ball.

“He has an unbelievable feel for the ball,” Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. “He’s athletic enough that he’s going to get out and run. He’s going to be able to get out in front of the pack enough that he can come up with easy plays.”

Of his 28 points, he scored once from the perimeter. Otherwise, he slashed to catch and finish, once getting a baseline backdoor slam from Nash. On breaks, he had highlight moves with a swiveling score against Hill and a slicing left-hand finish.

Childress adds a Shawn Marion-type element of being able to produce on the offensive end without a lot of plays called for him. He’s the kind of perpetual motion player that will find seams in a rhythm offense that Phoenix plays.

Everybody talks about Turkoglu, but Childress’ acquisition was one of the more underrated of the summer. The fact that Childress ranks so highly in Wins Produced shows that he’s a high efficiency offensive player as well as a good rebounder, and if Prof. David Berri’s system is to be believed then the Suns have a bargain on their hands in Childress at a mid-level price.

Many other players shined as well in the scrimmage. Turkoglu’s 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting was nice to see, Nash’s game-high 10 assists were to be expected and Goran Dragic’s 17 and seven provided another affirmation of his rapid development.

But on a team with so many scoring threats you would not expect their defensive specialist and wing-rebounding extraordinaire to be the guy putting up all the points in the Suns’ intrasquad scrimmage.

Childress’ stellar camp punctuated by his fantastic scrimmage certainly bodes well for him making a bigger impact than most have him pencilled in for.

If only his Stanford Cardinal could have held on to their 21-3 in an eventual lopsided loss in Oregon, this would have been one heck of a day for Childress.

All three come entered training camp in completely different situations — Janning an undrafted rookie, Dowdell a 26-year-old still searching for a home and Atkins an NBA veteran at the end of his career.

Which one will win the battle and earn that roster spot? Here’s the lowdown on each candidate:

PG/SG — Matt Janning

Unlike most of the Phoenix Suns, when you first see Matt Janning you don’t automatically think NBA ball player. The 6-foot-5 guard resembles the rail-thin, token white boy that’s overlooked — a theme throughout most of his basketball career.

Janning said that he’s been doubted “at every level that I’ve ever played at.”

“People even in high school they say, ‘You’re not going to play varsity.’ I played varsity,” he said. “Coming out they say you’re not going to be able to play at the Division I level, I obviously did that. And then people doubted my professional ability, too, so it’s always just trying to prove to myself that I can do it after hearing everybody else say that I can’t.”

Matt Janning

The Northeastern sharpshooter has spent his entire basketball life proving people wrong, and he did it again when he signed a two-year, minimum salary deal with a small guarantee in early August.

Janning was a standout at Northeastern, playing in 129 games, averaging over 30 minutes per game all four years and scoring in double figures ever season, including 15.6 points per game his senior season. But yet, Janning went undrafted.

He played for the Celtics in the Orlando Summer League, but found a home in Phoenix after shining for the Suns in the Vegas Summer League.

Janning originally thought he would have to spend a few seasons overseas, but his summer improvement impressed the Suns enough to bring him on board.

“I elevated my game to a point where I can play at this level now,” Janning said.

Despite his partially guaranteed contract, nothing is set in stone for the Suns. Phoenix could easily shed his contract if head coach Alvin Gentry and his staff see better things from Dowdell or Atkins in camp. But that challenge excites the rookie.

“They obviously brought in these guys and myself to compete for that guard spot that they want,” Janning said. “It’s going to be fun competing with them.”

What he thinks he offers: “I can hit threes, good outside shooter, I can get to the basket, and then also I think one thing that really elevates my game is being able to play the one and the two. Being versatile, things like that are really going to help me long run in the NBA.”

Janning on his chances: . “I feel confident that if I can keep playing the way I have been that they make the decision to keep me around, but it’s all about going to camp and earning that spot for me now.”

What he needs to do to make it: If Janning can prove that he can play the point effectively and continually play at an NBA level, he should walk away with the job. If he shows that he isn’t much more than a shooter with a decent handle, he could be in trouble.

Prediction: Janning is on the opening day roster.

PG/SG — Zabian Dowdell

Janning has the upper hand with a somewhat guaranteed contract, but Zabian Dowdell is a familiar face for Phoenix, and he has all the confidence in the world when it comes to making the Suns.

The 26-year-old, 6-foot-3 combo guard played for the Summer Suns for the past two seasons and was set to join Suns training camp in 2009 before injuring his ankle. But the journeyman is back sporting purple and orange, hoping to land the NBA job he’s been after since he left Virginia Tech in 2007.

Zabian Dowdell

“I know I’m a good player,” Dowdell said. “I have all the confidence in the world. It’s just all about going out there and playing hard and doing what you’re capable of doing.”

Dowdell oozes confidence, and despite never logging a minute in an NBA game, has the swagger of a long-time veteran. But his NBA dream has yet to fall into place.

He was a projected first-round pick in 2007, but he never heard his name called. He hopped on the Supersonics’ 2007 summer league squad, but never stuck and opted for Italy.

After the aforementioned ankle injury leading up to 2009 Suns training camp, Dowdell played four games for the Tulsa 66ers. From there he received an offer to play in Spain, which he didn’t pass up.

Needless to say, Dowdell has been around the world and back and has yet to find a comfortable NBA job. But the combo guard doesn’t see his lack of success in the league as a failure.

“I’ve visited a lot of great places, had chances to see a lot of great things,” Dowdell said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

But there’s no hiding that the NBA is where Dowdell wants to be. Since he left Virginia Tech in 2007 he’s been searching, and feels he deserves a roster spot as much as anybody else.

“When I’m on the court I feel like I’m the best player. I’ve always had that mentality. That’s just the type of guy I am,” he said. “I work hard, I put time into my game, I feel that strongly about my game. I’m a competitive guy, I just feel like I’m the best player when I’m out there.”

What he thinks he offers: “I think I can do a little bit of everything. I’ve led my teams in scoring, I’ve been the best defender on the team, I’ve been the guy to kind of run the team, run the offense. As a player you have to be versatile, you have to be able to do different things and I think that’s one of my biggest strengths, I can do more than one thing.”

Dowdell’s chances: The journeyman has almost as good of a shot as Janning to make this team. He could contribute right away, and the Suns obviously like him after bringing him back for the second consecutive year. Right now the edge goes to Janning, but Dowdell isn’t far behind.

What he needs to do to make it: “I’m just going to go out there and showcase my skills. I’ve been playing the game long enough to know what to do.”

Prediction: Dowdell barely gets beat out by Janning, but if the Suns decide to take 15, he will be the guy.

PG — Chucky Atkins

Unlike Janning and Dowdell, the 36-year-old point guard needs no introduction. Chucky Atkins is the epitome of a backup point guard, and has experience playing on good teams.

Chucky Atkins

If the Suns are focusing solely on this season, Atkins is a no-brainer. He’s played on eight different teams, he’s playoff tested, and he can contribute right away.

The question is, how much does he have left in him? Atkins was able to play 16.1 minutes per game in 40 contests for Detroit last season, but he’s getting up there.

Another question is, are the Suns looking for longevity or a quick fix? They want someone who can give Nash rest in practice and push Goran Dragic, but is Atkins the guy to do that? He seems like the right choice given his background, but depending on what the Suns want, it might not be that easy.

What he offers: Atkins brings experience and leadership.

Atkins’ chances: Considering the fact that not many people even knew he was invited to Suns training camp, I don’t think the Suns expect him to be in purple and orange next season. He certainly ramps up the competition for the third PG spot, but I don’t see him making the team.

What he needs to do to make it: Prove he still has something left in the tank and that he’s willing to push players like Dragic in practice, rather than laying back like a lot of veterans do.

Prediction: Atkins won’t be in Phoenix at the start of the season.

Seventeen players are in San Diego with the Suns for training camp, but 14 will most likely be the magic number when the regular season kicks off. The Suns have some obvious holes, but with the departure of Amare Stoudemire and Lou Amundson, none more apparent than in the front court.

Phoenix needs insurance for Robin Lopez, and a competition between bigs Dwayne Jones and Garret Siler will decide who that extra center will be. Here is the lowdown on each candidate:

PF/C — Dwayne Jones

Jones is the the epitome of an NBA journeyman. Six different training camps with six different teams in the last six season says it all for the 6-foot-11, 250-pound big man.

But after finishing the 2009-10 season in Phoenix and ultimately being sent to Toronto in the Hedo Turkoglu trade before being waived by the Raptors, Jones now has a second shot with the Suns.

Dwayne Jones is the frontrunner for the backup big man void the Suns are trying to fill.

It didn’t look like he would be returning to Phoenix after appearing in only four games last season (two regular season, two postseason). But with the void in the middle, the scrappy power forward/center got his wish and signed a one-year, minimum salary deal with a small guarantee on Aug. 30.

“I’m definitely glad to be back here because this is where I wanted to be,” Jones said on media day.

Despite the contract, Jones knows nothing beyond preseason is really guaranteed for him with the Suns. But he fuels off that lack of security, as it’s nothing new for the high-energy big man.

“I don’t have that level of comfort to fall back on which is fine with me because whether I had a one-year fully guaranteed contract or a five-year guaranteed contract, I’m trying to get out on the floor and prove myself and help this team win,” Jones said.

Outside of two seasons in Cleveland, Jones has yet to find an NBA franchise he could call home. He’s appeared in an NBA game for four different franchises, seen action for five different D-League teams and played in Serbia and Turkey as well.

As far as the NBA goes, he started in Minnesota after going undrafted out of St. Joe’s, but was immediately sent to the D-League’s Florida Flame. From there he was dealt to the Celtics in 2006, then the Cavs until 2008.

He played six games in Charlotte, spent some more time in the D-League with San Antonio’s Austin affiliate and made an offseason pitstop in Toronto. Needless to say, finding a long-term job in the NBA hasn’t exactly happened for Jones.

“Like you said, I’ve bounced around, this is my sixth year out of school and this is my sixth training camp for a sixth different team so I’m hoping to be able to stick at some point,” Jones said. ”Having a family now is definitely important to me, to be able to stick in one certain place and to have my family with me.”

Despite his partially guaranteed contract, Jones hasn’t earned anything yet and is fighting for a roster spot and a chance at NBA stability. But it’s the memories of the forgettable times that drives the big man toward his goals.

“When I have a conversation with my father he always tells me, ‘You’ve been in a lot of situations and you’ve seen where you haven’t wanted to be so whenever there’s a moment where you have a little doubt or things like that, just go back to your lowest point and build from there and realize you don’t want to go back there and you have to fight for every opportunity that’s out there,’” Jones said.

What he offers: Jones is a natural-born rebounder, as he led the D-League in boards (16.0) with the Austin Toros. Although he admitted added confidence in his offensive game, it’s the rebounding and defense the Suns need, and he will have no problem bringing that.

Jones on his chances: “[My contract t is] through the preseason with a little bit of guarantee, but I still have to earn it.”

What he thinks he needs to do to make it: “I got to hustle, rebound, defend, help guys out defensively, help try to grab every single rebound I can that’s possible, fight on offense, fight on defense and bring that level of intensity whenever I’m out on the floor.”

Prediction: Jones makes the regular season roster.

C — Garret Siler

Garret Siler was one of the last players invited to training camp, but Phoenix saved the biggest for last. If nothing else, the 6-foot-11, 300-pounder can offer some serious size that could fill two spaces on the depth chart.

“I know behind Robin there is not another true five center,” Siler said. “I just want to be that guy that helps out and does whatever he can to help the team win.”

The Augusta State University (Division II) product is flat out huge, and was even bigger (360 pounds) when he got to college. After setting a collegiate record for field goal percentage (79 percent) as a senior, Siler went undrafted.

Siler is a big boy, which the Suns need. But will he be able to beat out Dwayne Jones?

The 23-year-old played with the Pacers’ summer league team last year, was invited to Minnesota’s training camp in 2009, and later made it to the final three cuts with the Atlanta Hawks.

He was drafted by the Utah Flash in the 2009 D-League Draft in August, but the NBA window was closing for Siler, so he went to China to play for the Yao Ming-owned Shanghai Sharks.

“On the court it basically played you a lot against other NBA players, who played in the league or played overseas but also it just brought a maturity to myself,” Siler said of his experience in China. ”Just more learning about how I am as a player and what I need to do for myself.”

The 24-7 Sharks were led by John Lucas III, while Siler averaged 14.1 points and 9.3 rebounds on 73 percent shooting.

But the biggest benefit isn’t only what happened during game time, but rather what he learned from Yao in down time, while shedding 30 pounds.

“(Yao) came to a lot of the games during the year when he was injured, especially last year,” Siler said. ”He came and told me some things I needed to work on, things I did good, things that just made me a better player.”

The biggest concern is that Siler is still very raw, and that he won’t be able to keep up with the breakneck pace. But Siler is almost positive he can run with the Suns.

“I think I can get up and down because how we played in China was kind of a similar pace,” Siler said. “This is a little bit quicker, but it was still a good pace and the coaches here have been running me to death already so I’m already ready for it.”

While Jones is a 27-year-old trying to establish a career and raise a family, Siler is just trying to find a job back in the United States.

“I want to stay in the States,” Siler said. “I want to play here in America, especially on a team like this who has a good group of guys. It’s the end all be all.”

What he offers: Size. There isn’t much more that is certain. Jones is a better rebounder because of the added athleticism, but Siler certainly has a higher celling.

Siler on his chances: “Pretty good.”

What he has to do to make it: “They just want to see how well I can defend, and as far as like pick and roll because we do a lot of that. Just seeing how dedicated I am as far as this process. I’m willing to work and do whatever it takes to make this team.”

Prediction: Jones will prove to be more tested and a better fit in the system. Siler may impress, but not enough to keep him around over Jones.

PHOENIX — The secret ingredient for the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns was chemistry.

The question now remains whether the 2010-11 squad can match that togetherness on the court and off it to become the definition of a team like last year’s Suns were.

That all starts this week in San Diego for training camp, as the Suns return to every Arizonan’s favorite vacation spot seeking to lay the same foundation for their brotherhood that they did last season.

“Training camp’s important for building that standard and that culture and trying to live up to our own expectations,” Steve Nash said.

Chemistry was one of the most discussed topics during Monday’s media day session in Phoenix after reporters like myself saw how important that togetherness was to last year’s Western Conference finalist.

It could be seen as a negative that last season the players were already speaking about how amazing the chemistry was from weeks of offseason work together while this year they were talking about developing chemistry in San Diego, but many expect this team to be tight as well thanks to the example set by its leaders and the quality of the people on the team.

“I think we’ve got good guys, and I think as long as you have good character guys chemistry seems to come together,” head coach Alvin Gentry said. “We’ve got two great leaders in Steve and Grant Hill. When your leaders seem to be your high-character guys, everyone seems to fall into place. The guys that we added to the mix are real high-character guys. I think all of those guys are all about the team, and I think as long as you have guys like that chemistry seems to come together and always seems to work out.”

Added Nash: “I think we should have great chemistry. We have great guys, we have unselfish guys, we have guys that I think get it, understand what it takes to be a good player and a good teammate and how important that is, so I expect our chemistry to be one of our strengths.”

Aside from having genuinely good guys who really like playing with each other, one of the biggest reasons the Suns enjoyed such fantastic chemistry last season is because everybody embraced their role.

They had 10 guys getting consistent time, and nobody could complain about their minutes because of the way Gentry rewarded the hot hand. Each player knew that if he was going good he would stay in the game, and the bench became such a critical part of this team’s success it was even interviewed as a group after a Western Conference Finals victory.

Gentry’s biggest challenge — and he’s the perfect coach for this challenge — will be finding a rotation this preseason that keeps everybody happy. Amazingly there are even more mouths to feed this season with 10 legitimate rotation players plus a pair of young forward in Earl Clark and Gani Lawal who could be deserving of time as well. With such a tenuous situation, the chemistry could blow up in the Suns’ faces if a couple guys become disgruntled with their roles.

But having a team full of too many solid players who are also quality people is a challenge that most coaches would take. It’s a mix Hill is optimistic can develop that same special feeling with just a little bit of time.

“We just have to work real hard on the court, put that investment in in terms of building that chemistry, that togetherness,” Hill said, “and it’s not something that happens in one day or happens in one week, but hopefully when we get to the end of the season we can be a close group, have a lot of trust in each other and enjoy playing with and for one another.

“I look at it as a chance to start from Day 1, it’s like sawing wood every day, and hopefully we’ll do some good things.”

The Suns feel they have the right pieces to recreate last year’s chemistry, and the Suns’ newcomers see it as well. Josh Childress spoke about how “everybody’s on the same page” when asked for his early impressions of his new team, and that’s before even taking part in any formal workouts. Hedo Turkoglu mentioned how the Suns are always so good as a team because of the way they share the ball and play together.

If the Suns want to exceed their dismal external preseason expectations once again they must become a “whole is better than the sum of their parts” kind of team. They possess the pieces to make that happen in terms of talent, character and unselfishness on the court, and many players already are close like brothers from their experience last season.

But chemistry is an amorphous enough concept that the players still must mesh. Everybody has to accept their roles and their minutes (which for some guys will be less than what they deserve), bond off the court and follow the lead of Nash and Hill.

So as important as this week is for the Suns to get into fast-breaking shape and develop their defensive schemes, it’s just as important for the lighter moments off the floor in which they can develop the kind of chemistry that can propel a small but talented team to the Western Conference Finals.

“For us this training camp is even bigger than last year because of the chemistry factor,” Jared Dudley said.

Suns leaders Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Hedo Turkoglu are ready to prepare for the 2010-11 NBA season. (Michael Schwartz/ValleyoftheSuns)

PHOENIX — At 2:30 p.m. Monday, the Phoenix Suns officially started the 2010-11 season … sort of.

The Suns departed for training camp Monday after running through the media day gauntlet of photos, questions and on-camera interviews. The buzz around the team is high this preseason after a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals last season.

The Suns will spend the next week training and setting the final roster at the University of California-San Diego in La Jolla, Calif.

The questions at this year’s media day for the men in purple an orange had quite a different tone. While last year it was “can you guys make the playoffs?” this year brought more “can you guys do that again?” And just like last season, the Suns are confident despite once again getting little respect nationally.

“We have to go out and find out who we are and prove who we can be,” Suns point guard Steve Nash said. “I feel certain that with a bounce here or there we could have won a championship [last year].”

The quest for that championship began anew Monday when the team bus rolled away from US Airways Center and headed for the airport.

First injury report of the year

The Suns were mostly safe from significant injuries last season, with the obvious exception being center Robin Lopez. Gentry said Monday that Lopez isn’t quite 100 percent.

The big man battled a bulging disk near the end of last season that kept him out of most of the playoffs. There was no indication, however, that Lopez would miss any time.

“I would say he’s not back 100 percent, but I think he’s pretty close to being back,” Gentry said.

Gentry also said newly acquired utility man (and projected starting power forward) Hedo Turkoglu isn’t quite 100 percent either. The Turkish giant (seriously, the guy is much bigger than he looks on TV) injured his knee near the conclusion of the FIBA World Championship and has been taking it easy since arriving in Phoenix.

To no one’s surprise, Nash ready as ever

Steve Nash answers questions at Suns media day 2010. (Tyler Lockman/ValleyoftheSuns)

Nash took the podium just before noon Monday to kick off media day 2010. Nash fielded a variety of questions, from his ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Into the Wind (he’s happy with how it turned out, but not anxious about its U.S. premiere) to the now-controversial Los Suns jerseys (they’ll wear them again, but not in relation to immigration laws).

Appropriately though, Nash did answer some basketball-related questions. Nash said his age is still not a factor in his game and he’ll be ready to play as many minutes as coach Alvin Gentry wants.

“I’m in as good of shape as I’ve ever been in,” Nash said.

Nash also said that what the team lacks in size it will make up for in depth. Nash wouldn’t predict the impact of the Suns’ offseason additions, but did suggest that they make the team even deeper.

Dudley slims down

Jared Dudley was up to his usual tricks at media day, iPhone in hand as JMZ reported. Dudley also got do player interviews for NBA TV as the team left the locker room and headed for the bus.

But it wasn’t his media savvy that was most noticed Monday, it was his shape. Dudley dropped from 238 pounds last season to 222. He also decreased his body fat from around 10 or 11 percent to 7.4.

ValleyoftheSuns editor Michael Schwartz must not be the only one giving the Steve Nash diet a try …

Something missing

For the first time since the 2001-02 media day, a certain big, talented forward was missing from Suns media day.

No one was denying that Amare Stoudemire will be missed, but no one seemed too concerned with his absence.

“When we signed these guys it wasn’t to replace Amare,” Gentry said of the Suns newest additions.

Surely any team would miss the presence of a dominant power forward who is one of the best in the league at his position, but the Suns are confident that this group can make up for what left for the Big Apple with Stoudemire.

“I think we’ll make up when it comes to statistics,” Dudley said. “What you don’t make up for is the fear factor of Amare rolling to the basket. With us it’s going to be more penetrate and kick than screen and rolls. Before I even got here the Suns went to the [Conference] Finals without Amare, they had Boris [Diaw]. Boris stepped up and he became a player that people probably didn’t expect, and that’s what’s going to have to happen here.”

The secret game

After a long wait, veteran forward Grant Hill chatted casually with the media in attendance. Drawing particular interest was Hill’s August hoops game with a number of NBA stars and the leader of the free world himself.

Hill discussed his game with President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., of which there are no photos or video. The game also featured the NBA’s best, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.

“It kind of get competitive out there,” Hill said. “He hit a game-winner one game. He hit a three-pointer — college three-pointer. He had a nice crossover on Chris Paul, which was cool.”

Hill also said Connecticut women’s basketball star Maya Moore stripped the ball from Wade’s hands twice, prompting Hill to jokingly suggest they enlist her services when taking on the Heat.

“You got a chance to just see all these great players and great guys sort of humbled and not worrying about being stars or superstars,” Hill said. “But just honored to be in that particular moment on the court with the president.”

Siler as big as advertised

Training camp invitee Garret Siler is listed at 6 feet 11 inches and 300 pounds. He looks every bit of it and then some. The Augusta State product towered over nearly everyone in the room, but looked even more gigantic next to fellow invitee Matt Janning, who’s listed at 6-foot-4.

Suns invite Atkins

Veteran NBA guard Chucky Atkins practiced with the Suns during the offseason and got a formal invite to camp, the Suns announced. The journeyman will enter his 12th NBA season and if he makes the squad, the Suns would be his ninth NBA team.

Atkins was present at media day, but did not speak to reporters.

Michael Schwartz contributed reporting.

Sarver will be watching his Suns train in San Diego this time around. (Josh Fields/Arizona Daily Wildcat)

Maybe Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver want to distance themselves from their Wildcat allegiances or maybe they just want to spend a week in their San Diego homes, but whatever the reason the Suns will take training camp on the road to San Diego after training in Tucson three of the past four seasons.

Phoenix will train at the University of San Diego from Sept. 28-Oct. 4.

“We very much appreciate the hospitality Tucson and the University of Arizona have shown our team the past few years and we look forward to returning in the future, but this season felt like an appropriate time to move camp out of town,” Kerr said in a release on Suns.com. “It’s not uncommon for a team to train away from home and San Diego presents an opportunity to focus on the task at hand.”

The Suns had trained in McKale Center in 2005, 2007 and 2008 (they were in Italy in 2006 for their best year of the bunch) after spending 16 of the previous 19 years in Flagstaff.

Paul Coro wrote about a Tucson jinx on the Suns after we found out about Amare’s microfracture soon after 2005, Marion’s trade request days before 2007 and Amare’s initial eye injury last year.

Apparently the Suns don’t care so much about reaching their fan base in Tucson as they have talked about in previous years.

Not only am I a bit disappointed because our ValleyoftheSuns correspondents won’t have nearly as easy a time covering training camp in San Diego as they would in Tucson, but I still remember that 2005 training camp as my first shot at the big time.

As a sophomore for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, I was entrusted to cover that training camp, and for that week it’s about all I did save for a few hours of sleep and maybe a little bit of eating.

I received some reporting tips from Marc Stein (which was amazingly cool for a then-19-year-old aspiring journalist), got to rub shoulders with the Suns and most of all wrote my first real NBA feature on Robert Sarver, who at the time was just settling in as Suns owner.

I got to see a different Robert Sarver then the cheap villain Suns fans seem to think of him as these days.

The Robert Sarver I met went out of his way to talk to me before a couple veteran journalists who cover the team regularly because we had set up an appointment the day before and Sarver knew I had a class to go to a few minutes later.

I ended up writing what still is one of my favorite stories because of all it encompassed between U of A and the Suns.

The Robert Sarver I met that day was not only generous with his time, funny, interesting, etc., etc., but you could tell he possessed that burning desire to win.

He wanted to win so badly that first year he went over the line clucking at the Spurs when they rested a few of their stars. It all seemed so easy, buying a franchise, signing Steve Nash and winning 62 games and reaching the doorstep of the Finals.

As I wrote in the piece, Sarver’s exemplary business background made him a natural fit to run the business side of the Suns.

OK, so I didn’t realize he would sell like every one of the Suns’ draft picks until I graduated, but you can’t say he doesn’t want to win.

The Suns have been paying the luxury tax the past few years now, which was fine by Sarver for a championship contender but not so fine for a basketball team on the outside of the playoff picture.

“I don’t mind having a big payroll if we’re really good,” Sarver told The Arizona Republic. “But you don’t want to have a really big payroll and not be good. We’ve got to balance that out and see what all our opportunities are. So, yeah, am I prepared to pay the tax this year? Yeah, I am. But I want to have a good team.”

Hopefully that means Sarver will put his money where his mouth is, which would involve making a corresponding move in free agency to improve the team if it dumps Shaq for cash (with both being moves I think the Suns should make).

Every fan would love to have a Mark Cuban as their owner willing to lose tons of money to put out a halfway decent team. (Not that he’s won a championship or anything, and neither has George Steinbrenner this decade for that matter.)

That isn’t Robert Sarver’s style.

He looks at the bottom line more than most Suns fans would prefer him to do, and I can’t seem to stop referencing all of his damning sold draft picks of the past few years.

But before Suns fans question his desire to win, let’s not forget who’s sitting at center court waving that foam finger every night urging the rest of the crowd to join him.