Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Grayson Allen battled in prep basketball camps

That’s Grayson Allen’s story and he’s sticking to it.

When asked about competing against Devin Booker at all the camps as high school ballers, Allen said, “I don’t have a great memory of them, but I’m going to go ahead and say I won them all.”

Booker and Allen graduated from high school in 2014, went to college basketball powers Kentucky and Duke, respectively, and are now teammate in Phoenix. The Suns acquired Allen from Milwaukee a week before training camp in a three-team deal that sent Deandre Ayton to Portland and Damian Lillard to the Bucks.

“I’ve known him since I was 15, 16 years old,” Booker said after Day 3 of Suns training camp Thursday. “To watch his game grow and continue to grow, it’s very impressive, especially when you get to watch it from high school. There’s a lot of guys at the top and you slowly watch people fall off, fall out. Not even make it to college or to the NBA. He’s just continued to get better and better.”

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Damion Lee's status, roster cut

The Suns finished Day 3 of camp with a group huddle that had injured Damion Lee in it.

Lee suffered what the Suns are calling a right knee meniscus injury during an on-court workout leading up to camp. While Frank Vogel wouldn’t discuss the severity of the injury at Monday’s media day, the Suns said Lee would be “out until further notice.”

However, Lee didn’t have a brace on his right knee at Thursday’s practice, but wasn’t moving much, either as he stood at midcourt talking with Suns assistant David Fizdale.

Vogel didn’t have a progress report on Lee’s status.

The Suns must reduce their roster down to 15 standard players by the start of the regular season. They came into camp with 17.

“Whoever is playing at the highest level,” said Vogel when asked what he’s looking for when it comes to making roster cuts. “Earn those jobs. Just healthy competition. We believe in all those guys. Wish we could keep everyone. Everybody we have in uniform right now I know could contribute for us. That’s a good problem and we’ll make those decision when the time comes.”

Keon Johnson and Ish Wainright are two players in camp who might wind up being waived.

Johnson came to Phoenix in the Deandre Ayton trade while Wainright is the second year of his contract after being a two-way player for the Suns.

“This business is a competing business,” Johnson said Monday. “It gives a lot to the fire knowing that when I come in, I’ve got to hit the ground running. It gives me something that I know I can rely on, my competitive instincts. That’s what got me here and I plan on that continuing to be what keeps me here."

Wainright sees the business side of this situation, too.

“Had a lot of smiles the past couple of years,” Wainright said. “Time for a different approach. It’s about business. Everybody knows it’s about business. I’m here to stick, I’m here to stay. I’m just going to compete every single day, every single night.”

Vogel has handled situations like in the past numerous ways.

“Case by case,” he said. “There’s times where we’ll tell two or three guys, hey, there’s one spot, it’s going to be up to you three guys, go compete for it. Sometimes it’s more about do we need more shooters, do we need more defenders. It’s not always about winning the job, but what skill set fits the roster the best. All of that factors in.”

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns teammates Devin Booker, Grayson Allen competed in prep camps