Pacific Notes: Booker, Labissiere, Kuzma

The Suns have had a tough go of it over the course of the past three seasons. Now that they finally boast an intriguing young core, however, things may have hit a minor snag. Greg Moore of the Arizona Republic wonders if Devin Booker‘s hand injury could spoil Phoenix’s season.

While there’s no guarantee that Booker even misses regular season time recovering from hand surgery, it’s a distinct possibility. In any event, the up-and-coming Suns star will miss training camp and preseason, that could mean it won’t be until part-way through the 2018-19 campaign that he starts building chemistry with vaunted No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton.

As Gina Mizell of The Athletic writes in a similar piece speculating about the impact Booker’s absence will have, she notes that the Suns could even begin the season without a clear-cut point guard on the roster.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

• There’s no shortage of intriguing big men on the Kings roster but one oft-forgotten frontcourt project is Skal Labissiere. Kyle Ramos of the team’s official site writes that this offseason has been 22-year-old’s best since entering the NBA in 2016.
• A much-improved physique will put Lakers sophomore Kyle Kuzma in position to break out in 2018-19, Frank Urbina of Hoops Hype writes. The forward was a surprise success as a rookie last year and will look to make further progress after gaining strength in his shoulder and back.
• There are plenty of things to like about what the Lakers did this offseason and projections for how they’ll fare in 2018-19 vary wildly. One question, James Blancarte of Basketball Insiders wonders, is whether or not the franchise will be able to resist the urge to shake up the roster with a trade if things don’t begin as expected in Los Angeles.