Suns' Lopez to have surgery on left foot

PHOENIX - Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez will undergo surgery to repair a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot.

Lopez suffered the injury in the second half of the team's intrasquad scrimmage Saturday in San Diego.

"Somebody took a charge on me, I didn't come down on them, but just coming in contact with them disrupted my landing and I came down on the side of my foot," Lopez said.

The procedure to insert a screw will be performed Tuesday, by Dr. Gus Armendariz at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix.

The center is expected to miss between six and eight weeks.

As a rookie in 2008-09, the Stanford product averaged 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds while appearing in 60 games.

Lopez was expected to be able to fight for a starting position and likely be the backup center.

With Lopez being out for the first few weeks of the season other players will have to fill the void as the Suns likely will not search for a replacement.

Suns forward Amare Stoudemire could be playing more in the middle than expected, and also rookie Earl Clark could see some time at the five position.

Coach Alvin Gentry knows the team was already thin at the center position and says the team will make the most of it.

"Amare now will have to be at center a little more then we wanted him to be," Gentry said. "It just puts us in a little bit more of a bind, but we can't worry about it.

"We just have to find a way to become pack rebounders."

Suns roster down to 15

The Suns waived forward Raymond Sykes. The roster is now at 15.