Welcome back to another year of NBA Draft coverage on the Phoenix Suns.
Our 29 for 29 series will roll through 29 different prospects we think you should know about ahead of the draft that sits exactly two weeks away. The general idea here is to cover the entire canvas for who Phoenix could select at No. 29, as well as a few names that could come up later with its second-round pick at No. 52. There is also a solid chance the Suns acquire more picks in a Kevin Durant trade, and these prospects could apply to those selections too.
The five-part series began with five names who would be a “best player available” type of selection. Up next, we will once again go with five individuals, this time a collection centered around the idea that there could be some hidden upside for guys graded near the first-round bubble.
There is a good argument the Suns just need to shoot for the stars with this pick. Screw the floor. Go for the ceiling. Here are five to make that argument for.
For help on knowing where guys might/should go, refer to ESPN’s big board ranking for each prospect, as they are the most “intel-based” and generally have a good idea on the range to know.
Cedric Coward, G/F, Washington State, 21 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-7, 213 pounds, 7-foot-2 wingspan Stats: *Six games played* 17 PPG, 7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.7 BPG, 0.8 SPG, 2.2 TPG, 55.7 FG% (10.2 FGA/G), 40 3P% (5 3PA/G), 83.9 FT% (5.2 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 29, The Athletic: 10, The Ringer: 15, Yahoo!: 5
The hottest name and biggest riser of the process over the last couple of months has been Coward, a prospect with a rather clean 3-and-D resume. The measurements above, how he moves on the floor and his 3-point shooting holding a good resume of 38.3% (4.2 3PA/G) before his six-game sample at Washington State last year are all more than solid footing.
But is there more here? It’s interesting that ESPN’s board with the intel-based reporting sits far lower than where some of the national experts place him, so perhaps teams aren’t buying in as much on that thought just yet.
Coward began playing collegiately at Willamette University, a D3 school in Salem, Oregon, that had 2,400 students in 2023. The story goes that former Eastern Washington and current Washington State head coach David Riley was watching a friend at the D1 level coach against Willamette early in the year, and Riley made sure not to forget Coward’s name after seeing him play that night. He targeted him in the portal the next year, landed him for two years and then when he moved to Wazzu, he took Coward with him.
The unanswerable question here is that Coward was only in his second year of D1 basketball at Eastern Washington and was only in the Big Sky Conference. Just as he got a big jump in competition to see what he can really do at Washington State, he partially tore his labrum in his shoulder and was out the rest of the year. Only one of those contests, a loss to Iowa in which Coward shot 3-of-10 in, offered a peek at how ready he was for that jump.
The sizzle reels include some of the scoring flashes, and again, it makes you wonder!
Cedric Coward is being heavily linked to Duke & Alabama.
The 6-6 wing only appeared in 6 games this season due to injury, where he averaged 17.7 PPG & 7 RPG. Strong frame/tools — high level slasher with shooting skill (40% 3P) & defensive impact.
An NBA caliber wing to monitor. pic.twitter.com/UylWIKo0Ja
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) April 19, 2025
Teams picking in the teens are going to try like hell to deduce and unearth those flashes in workouts to see if there’s something real there. Workouts can only show so much.
Either way, he’s a safe bet for the first round, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him go as high as the back-end of the lottery based on the question. If he somehow drops or Phoenix picks up a selection in the 10-20 range, he’s certainly a name to keep an eye on.
Rasheer Fleming, F/C, Saint Joseph’s, 20 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-10, 232 pounds, 7-foot-5 wingspan Stats: 14.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.5 TPG, 53.1 FG% (10.1 FGA/G), 39 3P% (4.5 3PA/G), 74.3 FT% (2.9 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 26, The Athletic: 33, The Ringer: 22, Yahoo!: 25
Do power forwards exist anymore? I am of the belief that they do, but that the modern qualifications have become so extreme that they are on the verge of becoming extinct.
Fleming has a few of them. At nearly 6-foot-10 and a wingspan of 7-foot-5, that is the type of size you’re looking for. The freakish long arms allow for some rim protection potential, both on the weak side and as a small-ball 5. He’s also got a strong frame at 232 pounds, so he can handle the physicality on the interior and dominated Atlantic 10 opponents, looking the part of an obvious outlier in the ways he should have.
With a 7’5 wingspan, and a chiseled frame, Rasheer Fleming is a prototypical NBA big man physically, with strong finishing and floor-spacing prowess. He filled up the stat sheet with dunks, 3s, rebounds, steals and blocks, making highlight-reel plays with his exceptional length. t.co/ExcuHdrAP8 pic.twitter.com/DkvqWKDErp
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 11, 2025
This is where a snag typically arrives, because what’s next is switchability. Fleming’s more about mobility to close out and/or recover as opposed to moving side to side with a ball-handler, and to return to the ludicrous plus-7 wingspan, that makes it OK. The stock (blocks/steals) numbers (2.9 per game) speak for themselves. He should hold his own in switches.
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But can this 2025 4-man space the floor effectively? Fleming can. He produced 39% from 3 on 4.5 tries a game. That’s big-time volume for a, uh, big. It is worth noting he was at 31.3% prior to his junior year, so it’s not a rock-solid foundation worth betting your house on.
The last ask, and this is where we’re getting greedy, is some good 0.5 driving skills. This is also known as the one-to-two dribble decision made attacking an aggressive closeout, usually when planted in the corner. Fleming does put the ball on the deck and dishes a good feed from time to time but 30 more turnovers than assists in his career is not enough to go strongly off of. It’s the primary weakness in his game.
The team that drafts him is going to have to immediately decide what he is, a 4 that sometimes plays the 5 or a full-out 5. The Suns were here before with Jalen Smith, who pre-draft leaned much more toward a skill set for the 5 than the 4, but that did not stop Phoenix from trying to develop him into something he wasn’t.
Fleming could be that something. This is not about some star upside, as Fleming’s self-creation issues at St. Joe’s have been well documented. And as someone lower on him like The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie focuses on, Fleming’s feel and skill have to catch up to this concept of what he can become in the NBA.
But if he is truly an actual power forward, only a handful of those exist across the entire league in a supplementary role — a switchable perimeter defender with size to rebound and protect the rim inside while stretching the floor. That would make him a steal in the 20s.
Yanic Konan Niederhauser, C, Penn State, 22 years old
Measurables: 7-foot-1, 243 pounds, 7-foot-3 wingspan Stats: 12.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 0.8 APG, 2.3 BPG, 0.7 SPG, 1.7 TPG, 61.1 FG% (8.1 FGA/G), 9.1 3P% (0.4 3PA/G), 66.4 FT% (4.5 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 34, The Athletic: 41, The Ringer: NR, Yahoo!: 33
Niederhauser took the rare jump from one of the lower-end workout events prior to the combine, performing well enough to earn an invite to the combine itself. That alone speaks to the acceleration of his stock, so there’s a peek worth taking.
The native of Switzerland moves well in the basic elements of his job and has some strength built into his frame already. It’s the type of center build teams want these days. He gets up and down the floor at a good rate, dives with some quickness and gets in and out of his defensive coverages with solid speed. Penn State thankfully didn’t just plop him in a drop all year and let him get to the level of screens, so that allowed his mobility to shine.
He wants to use his handle, which has had him compile some ridiculous highlights for an unreal sizzle reel. The case for his ceiling is fantastically covered by this video alone.
7 Foot Junior Yanic Konan Niederhauser is one of the most underrated prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft.
For the season he averaged 13/6/1 along with 2 BPG in only 25 MPG, Yanic also shot 61% from the field
Yanic is one of the best athletes in the class at 7 Feet, who moves… pic.twitter.com/z6mTI4QPoH
— KJ (@KJ__Hoops) April 9, 2025
But a full-game look wasn’t as appetizing. Niederhauser is a bit more rigid in the explosive moments than expected based on his resume and the quick blurbs on his scouting report. It shows up in moments like catches on the short roll, second jumps for rebounds and stand-still finishes around the rim. When he has space to move, like in the open court and clear dives to the rim, he’s soaring. He’s also only going to be operating in that space a short amount of time.
Niederhauser gets caught with his fundamentals as an anchor at times, stuck between two thoughts and out of his stance, which should get cleaned up in time. His hands are an issue and turnovers with screens and bad passes pop up as well. It’s the type of stuff you’d want to see cleaned up for a junior, although he was at Northern Illinois for two seasons before making a large jump to the Big Ten.
Getting that from the tape adds up to what ESPN had to say about Niederhauser at the combine, that his play in 5-on-5 scrimmages wasn’t standing out as much compared to what he did at the G League Elite Camp. It looks like someone still just getting comfortable with basketball in their body.
It’s a pretty black and white breakdown. Athletic bigs with true size that can dive and protect the rim will always have a place in the NBA. Niederhauser has a chance to be one of those guys, but it feels unlikely he can do so at a great-to-elite level, and there are direct similarities for Phoenix to Nick Richards that would make this the most befuddling use of either pick, even if he fell to the 50s.
Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke, 21 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-6, 183 pounds, 6-foot-7 wingspan Stats: 12.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.2 APG, 0.1 BPG, 0.8 SPG, 1.1 TPG, 45.2 FG% (9.6 FGA/G), 40.5 3P% (5.8 3PA/G), 68 FT% (2 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 43, The Athletic: 36, The Ringer: 38, Yahoo!: 49
Playing for Duke was the best thing to happen for Proctor, and at the same time, by walking through that blue door he never got a full look at what was behind the red door of his full potential. Is that the blue or red pill in the movie? Whatever.
The Blue Devils were led by three future lottery picks in Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach. They were supported by tremendous ancillary pieces like Proctor, Sion James and others to be the most complete team in college basketball.
Proctor’s role on the team was very clear-cut. He got everything into shape for Flagg or Knueppel, shot lots of 3s to space and filled in the dirty work from there. His assists per game dropped from 3.7 to 2.2 with this on-ball reduction and that allowed his 3-point percentage to jump a full five points.
The opening he could wiggle through is as an off-ball guard, doing enough secondary playmaking while covering the 3-and-D tracks elsewhere. Proctor came into Duke lauded for his passing ability and that could work playing off a primary scorer by being another ball-handler option. Think a different version of when Lonzo Ball was at his best before the injuries, a “point guard” with size that doesn’t do enough individual scoring to command an offense consistently.
Proctor will need to be a good shooter and on-ball defender to meet that billing. He was in college. Again, though, that’s a tight squeeze. If either part of his game falters or making the reads as a pick-and-roll ball-handler take too much time, he could sink quickly. And perhaps, much like the blue pill, his situation at Duke masked the flaws that would have been exposed in a more high-usage role and will be in the NBA.
The Aussie, however, did show glimpses going back to his freshman year before he was overshadowed by future draft picks. Everything you just read about his profile would not lead you to believe he had outings like this in his arsenal.
Tyrese Proctor is so crafty as a scorer. 16 points yesterday and hit some really difficult shots. Also added six assists.
In line for a monster Sophomore season should he return. pic.twitter.com/MkAMAiIetm
— BlueDevilStop (@BlueDevilStop) March 19, 2023
There is a lot of value to be had in what he can do if the right situation finds him, with a chance for more to develop. Boards are not properly accounting for that value and should have him in the first round.
Jamir Watkins, G/F, Florida State, 23 years old
Measurables: 6-foot-6, 215 pounds, 6-foot-11 wingspan Stats: 18.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.5 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 2.7 TPG, 42.7 FG% (13 FGA/G), 32.1 3P% (5.2 3PA/G), 74.7 FT% (7.7 FTA/G) Big board rankings: ESPN: 39, The Athletic: 54, The Ringer: NR, Yahoo!: 45
Nothing wrong with a guy that can put the biscuit in the basket and that’s what Watkins will do for you, perhaps offering more than what you see at surface level.
Watkins wants to get downhill and score through contact. Professional bucket-getters really stand out at the collegiate level because of the skill that comes with drawing fouls and the cadence it takes to not do so recklessly. It doesn’t translate to league success necessarily but it does speak to some level of basketball IQ. To that point, only three guards picked in the last five drafts took at least seven free tosses a game, per Stathead. He will be the fourth.
There’s great pace and burst to his slashing game, with some fluid ability to shoot off the dribble across the floor. With how he measured at the combine, Watkins will be able to score in the league. The issue is his jumper, which looks just fine but doesn’t go in enough. A career mark of 32.5% is not going to cut it, because his scoring only matters if he can stay on the floor and space it to provide that supplementary punch. Maybe a supplementary role bumps that up.
The defensive evaluations on him will swing whether he’s picked at the end of the first round or becomes someone teams negotiate with the night between rounds one and two to try and get on a two-way agreement. ESPN praised how Watkins defended in the 5-on-5 scrimmages, calling him one of the biggest winners of that week.
The tape with the Seminoles had his effort a bit more scattered, lacking the type of pop on the ball to suggest he could be a plus on that end at the next level. Perhaps the situation wasn’t right for him to carry the perimeter offense and also chip in to that extent defensively. But when he’s engaged, the athleticism is good enough to cover three positions no problem and he’s got a feel for it you’d expect for someone coming out of that program.
Jamir Watkins has impressed early on defensively.
6’6 + 6’11 wingspan, strong frame, tools + POA skill. pic.twitter.com/0uMDHFiz8H
— Mohamed (@mcfNBA) May 15, 2025
Watkins has a fair case to look at the attention Nique Clifford is getting and wondering why it’s not coming his way for a similar “late bloomer” path. He was a three-star recruit and was a role player at VCU for his first two years before exploding at Florida State back-to-back seasons.
Scouts will find a way to talk you into anyone drafted in any spot becoming a good NBA player but the pitch for Watkins only takes two floors up an elevator. If a team works with his shot to get it on track and makes him compete defensively how he did in Chicago, you got yourself a player who can contribute in more ways beyond just the surface-level bucket he appears to be. Like Proctor, the 40s and 50s are too low.
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