Preview: Suns Host Deandre Ayton, Blazers

The Suns look to improve to 2-1 in the tournament group.

The Phoenix Suns return home after a quick road trip to Salt Lake City, facing the Portland Trail Blazers for the first time this regular season after two matchups in the preseason. 

This notably will be game three of Phoenix's four-game group stage for the in-season tournament, while also notably being Deandre Ayton's return to Phoenix after an up-and-down tenure ended with a trade to Portland in September. 

Portland has struggled mightily in the early stages of the season, having the league's worst offense by a considerable amount, while Phoenix is on the opposite end of the group. 

Three storylines/things to look for tonight: 

Portland's Woes 

Portland has been a team that has struggled mightily, even with the presence of some of their best players, but Chauncey Billups' squad has been running mash-up lineups of unproven NBA players. 

Scoot Henderson, Anfernee Simons, and Ishmail Wainwright all remain out for Portland tonight, while Malcolm Brogdon is off the injury report ahead of tonight's contest. 

Brogdon's return to the starting lineup should bring some stability to a unit that also features Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe, and Toumani Camara, but the Trail Blazers' bench is among the worst in the NBA. 

Deandre Ayton's Return

Deandre Ayton will play his first game in Phoenix as a member of Portland after five up-and-down years on the Suns that ended on a sour note. 

While Ayton has struggled this season to the tune of 12.2 points/11 rebounds a game while shooting under one free throw attempt per game as well, this game in particular could be seen as a potential coming-out party for the talented big man.

Ayton will likely face a mixture of cheers and boos in his pre-game introduction, and it will be seen if this game in particular will motivate the big man to give it his all tonight. 

This game also marks the return of short-lived Sun Toumani Camara, who was a second round pick by Phoenix in the 2023 draft. Camara has impressed in Portland's starting lineup, particularly defensively, and looks to be a candidate for an all-rookie team consideration early on.

Former Blazers Bigs Face off Against Former Team

Jusuf Nurkic and Drew Eubanks have both been largely strong investments from Phoenix early in their tenures with the teams. 

Nurkic is largely replicating and even exceeding Ayton's production on several fronts, while Eubanks has been the biggest surprise for the squad thus far.

While this matchup could be seen as a large motivator for Ayton, it could be argued that it could be just as much of one for the former Blazers' bigs.

The Blazers' lack of big man depth behind DA also is a key advantage for the duo of Suns' bigs tonight, and this could be a true key in Phoenix picking up yet another big win in the quest to turn into the dominant team they arguably should be.