With the NBA Draft over and trade/free agency season in full swing, it is time to look forward to playing some real basketball. And now the Phoenix Suns have a game announced!
June is almost over and the offseason is only about a third of the way through. The Summer League season is still over a week away from tipping off, but we now know when one of the Phoenix Suns’ first preseason games will be and who Deandre Ayton will feast on for the first time:
On October 3, the New Zealand Breakers will visit Talk Stick Resort Arena, the first known game of the Phoenix Suns’ preseason schedule.
Add it to your calendars!
The Breakers are led by guard Edgar Sosa, who last season led New Zealand with 15.7 points and 3.8 assists per game. To check out stats and game footage, you can see their website here.
New Zealand also has a Phoenix Suns connection to them as former Suns star (and future Ring of Honor inductee) Shawn Marion is a part-owner. A member of a consortium who purchased the franchise in February, Marion has no interest in playing but did say that he would like to help out the players anyway he can, stopping short of saying he would coach, but willing to offer players advice.
In recent years the NBA has added games against foreign professional teams to their preseason schedules on a regular basis. For the second straight season, the NBA will host six National Basketball League (NBL) teams from Australia, with the Phoenix Suns hosting the fourth game of the series.
Phoenix is no stranger to playing against foreign teams as they have hosted a game against a foreign professional teams several times in the past. Last season the Suns closed up their brief five-game preseason slate against the Brisbane Bullets. Phoenix won 114-93.
Prior to 2017 the Suns have hosted Flamenco of Brazil in 2014, and Maccabi Bazan Haifa of Israel in 2013 – both Phoenix victories.
The rest of the Suns’ 2018 preseason schedule has not yet been announced so we do not yet know where this game is in the full schedule and how many game Phoenix will play overall.
Some NBA teams are slowly releasing their schedules already though. Miami has, for instance, and their first of six preseason games is actually in September.
Last season Phoenix released their five-game preseason schedule in August.
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While this matchup against New Zealand might not be the team’s first preseason game, it is at least a game on a calendar where we know that Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, and the rest of the rising young Suns team will be playing!
Only 97 days!