Suns' Stoudemire to have knee surgery

For the second time in three years, the Suns are down in Tucson preparing for training camp — while Amaré Stoudemire is back in Phoenix undergoing knee surgery.

The Suns are hopeful all similarities end right there.

Stoudemire will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee — his third knee surgery in two years — late this morning in downtown Phoenix after an MRI revealed “a loose body” in the knee.

This is not Stoudemire’s left knee, the one which underwent a microfracture procedure on Oct. 11, 2005 and cost Stoudemire all but three games of the 2005-06 season.

That surgery, however, also started out as a simple “scope” before the procedure revealed the need for the microfracture surgery.

But Suns general manager Steve Kerr said results from an MRI taken Sunday clearly showed what the problem is — and the team is confident Stoudemire with miss just two to three weeks and has a good shot at being ready for the Nov. 1 season opener at Seattle.

“The pictures are totally different this time. It’s obvious to anyone who looks at the pictures what is causing the inflammation and what needs to be done,” Kerr said. “He is confident that this will be a routine procedure and given Amaré’s age and great condition that he will bounce back very quickly.

“We’re not going to be stupid about it. Right now, we’re expecting him to be ready for the opener. But if he’s not, that’s fine, we’ll take every precaution.”

Stoudemire played all 82 regular season games last season — earning All-NBA first-team honors at center and putting to rest concerns over his left knee — and spent a trouble-free summer playing for Team USA in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas.

He has also been undergoing MRI exams from time to time over the past year, all which have revealed no problems.

But while playing pickup games with his teammates last week, Stoudemire experienced some discomfort and swelling in the right knee and shut it down last Tuesday.

While the left knee has gotten all the publicity — Stoudemire is among a handful of athletes to make a successful recovery from microfracture surgery — the right knee has had problems as well.

Stoudemire felt pain in the knee during his ill-fated comeback in March 2006 and had an arthroscopic procedure on April 5 to remove debris and a cyst that is caused by wear-and-tear of the kneecap.

He also had some discomfort in the knee during training camp in Europe last October, but results showed only minute changes from the post-scope pictures.

If Stoudemire were to be out for an extended period, the Suns have limited options in the post.

After trading Kurt Thomas to Seattle along with two first-round draft picks for luxury tax relief on July 20, the Suns have Boris Diaw, free agent Brian Skinner and holdover Sean Marks as backups.

Diaw is also expected to see some time at power forward to back up Shawn Marion — who reiterated during his media day appearance Monday he would prefer to be traded.

The Suns also said they have no present plans to do so.

Children of the corn

As if the trials of media day and an afternoon bus ride to Tucson weren’t enough for one day, Steve Nash was up at 6 a.m. for a helicopter ride — although his wife wouldn’t reveal the real reason for the trip.

Turns out, Schnepf Farms of Queen Creek had tapped the two-time MVP as its subject for its annual celebrity corn maze.He joins a list that includes Oprah Winfrey.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Nash said. “I was in a helicopter early in the morning, looking down at a maze of myself in a cornfield. That’s the kind of thing that happens every day, right? I told them I don’t know what the big deal is, I have one of them in my backyard, but they didn’t believe me.”