3 Suns to battle it out for final roster spot

The Phoenix Suns revealed which players will be at training camp recently, with Frank Kaminsky the unexpected name to appear on the list. After a season overseas, the former Suns player - who was there during the run to the 2021 NBA Finals - is going to get an opportunity to play his way back onto the roster.

He's not the only one though, as it has now become clear that three players are going to be battling for that final spot on the roster in The Valley. With Collin Gillespie, the undrafted Jalen Bridges and TyTy Washington occupying the two-way spots, it is now or never for Kaminsky and these other two players.

But who is going to come out on top?

Starting with Kaminsky's chances, and he's surely the frontrunner here. He has a relationship with the organization and the fanbase, while he's always appeared popular with fans and teammates alike. Best of all, Kaminsky can fill an actual need for this roster as their 15th man as well, as a stretch big.

Bol Bol was a player who saw minutes last season - and while he's back again this time out - Kaminsky has him on the defensive end for sure. He's just a more complete player when compared to the "what will happen next" adventures that are Bol with the ball in hand offensively, and he fits more five-man units with his shooting from deep, passing for a bigger player and some average at best defending.

Next up is Mamadi Diakite, who has only played 55 regular season games in the league since entering in 2021. The Suns clearly see something they think they can work with here, and he's more likely than Kaminsky to take up some backup center minutes. He's also the better defender of the two - and with the Suns figuring to be small when fully healthy - Diakite could help.

Last season the Drew Eubanks experiment didn't work - and while Jusuf Nurkic and Mason Plumlee is an NBA level tandem - both are now 30 (Nurkic) or older (34, Plumlee). Diakite will have his work cut out for him making this roster, but if nothing else he has some experience in the league and can also fill a position of need as the third big man here if selected.

Then there is Moses Wood - another undrafted player from 2024 - who has had a varied college career to say the least. He played for the Atlanta Hawks during Summer League, and has now found himself in Phoenix. The kind of player that teams bring to camp every season, just to see if they'll react in the ways that group needs to stick to the end of their bench.

In theory Wood has the most upside purely because he just came from college, but the Suns drafted Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro for that themselves this year. Diakite will probably find a home somewhere and even last season would have made a lot of sense with the Suns. Chalk this one up to the veteran Kaminsky's to lose then, the fit looks too good for both player and team to ignore.