Suns fear Cam Johnson has torn meniscus in his right knee, per report

The Phoenix Suns have been playing some solid basketball to start the 2022-23 NBA season, but it appears as though some adversity is about to hit. The Suns fear forward Cam Johnson has suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Early testing is reportedly indicative of a meniscus tear, and Johnson will receive further imaging. 

Johnson suffered the injury during Phoenix’s 108-106 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. Johnson appeared to tweak his knee during the first quarter of the contest and didn’t return to game action after subbing out. 

Johnson moved into the starting power forward spot for the Suns this season. He started in the team’s first eight games of the season and is averaging 13 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per performance. A timeline will likely be established when the injury is officially announced, but it certainly seems like Johnson is going to miss some time, and potentially a significant amount. 

In Johnson’s absence, Torrey Craig and Dario Saric will likely see their roles increase greatly. The Suns will feel Jae Crowder’s absence during this time. Crowder was the team’s starting power forward in the previous two seasons, but he’s currently away from the team awaiting a trade. Perhaps Johnson’s injury will spur Crowder to return to the team. Either way, the Suns will have to rely on the entirety of the roster to step up in the absence of a starter.