It was only five days ago when we were outlining the future of the Phoenix Suns’ roster over the next 3-5 years as Devin Booker, Ryan Dunn, Oso Ighodaro and the Nos. 29 and 52 picks. Beyond that, who knows.
Well, we do now.
Through trades on both NBA Draft nights and the separate Kevin Durant deal, Phoenix made three selections in the draft on top of adding young talent elsewhere. That long-term core is now comprised of Booker (28 years old), Dunn (22), Ighodaro (22), Jalen Green (23), Mark Williams (23), Khaman Maluach (18), Rasheer Fleming (20) and Koby Brea (22).
While it wasn’t perfect execution on how it was done, namely the return in the two deals involving players, and it’s uncertain how it all fits into place, that is impressive work.
And before we go any further, there is much more work to be done. Phoenix will have to pull off some pretty incredible maneuvering to get under the second apron, with just about all of its tradable draft capital now gone and none of these trades helping out that predicament. Brea becomes the seventh player that is either a two-guard or too small as a wing. Phoenix now has four centers, including Nick Richards. Bradley Beal is still around.
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With all that said, the Suns and new general manager Brian Gregory have shown an ability to wheel and deal. Toss in some of the shuffling in each round last summer as a hat tip to owner Mat Ishbia too if you’d like.
Phoenix entered Thursday’s second round with Nos. 52 and 59 in the draft, with the latter selection a part of the Durant trade. The Suns then traded two future second-round picks for No. 36, combined those two picks in the 50s in exchange for No. 41 and then used two more second-rounders plus the 36th selection to get to No. 31. Most of those were part of the five that were in the Durant deal.
It is a lot easier said than done to accomplish that type of transactional tornado. Gregory credited the Suns’ planning and how they were ready for numerous different scenarios to unfold.
“With Mat in town, with us constantly in that war room communicating to each other, bouncing different ideas off each other. … [That] communication and the fact that we’re all on the same page and we’re able to get the calls and the information we’re looking for does make it smoother,” Gregory said of a group that extends to just over a half-dozen front office members.
“Or as sometimes I like to say — aligned,” Gregory added with a smirk.
The purpose and forcefulness behind it is the front office enacting the traits it wants the roster to channel next season.
Fleming, a 6-foot-9 four/five combo with a 7-foot-5 wingspan out of Saint Joseph’s that was the guy at No. 31, was someone the Suns had in the top-20 of their big board, per Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro. The mix of motor and athleticism is something Phoenix has direly needed. He also offers premium versatility, with the length to play some 5 and the shooting ability (39% on 4.5 3PA/G) to be featured at the 4.
If there is any developmental piece that will prove head coach Jordan Ott’s track record was indeed worth touting up, it’s Fleming. While nowhere in the stratosphere of the prospect Evan Mobley was, that was Ott’s guy last year he helped really grow, with a similar mix of a skill set and freakish physical traits.
Fleming is ideally developed as a power forward long term, with a collection of modern attributes that are rare. To be clear, he’s more ready to play the 5 in a simplified role. But if his jumper is legit and he improves both his ability to drive the ball and his overall floor sense on both ends of the floor, this would be a heist.
Gregory mentioned some of the more technical and fundamental checkmarks Fleming has as a shooter that make the Suns feel good about him as he extends his range, while the ball skills are “in a good place” and they like Fleming’s desire to get better with parts of his game like that.
The secondary big elements Fleming can provide defensively as a weak-side rim protector, strong rebounder and key off-ball rotator are tantalizing.
While the current log jam at center will prevent Fleming from getting much time at the 5 in the short term, there are some awesome small-ball possibilities with him there. If he is indeed a reliable player for the Suns down the line, they’ll want to make sure they can use him there. That’s when Fleming could become wholly unique.
Brea, a 6-foot-7 two-guard selected 41st, was the best shooter in college basketball the last two seasons. Across a year each playing for Dayton and Kentucky, he took 415 and made 46.5% of them. That is not a field goal percentage. It is a 3-point percentage. And the crazy part is, he’s a tentative player at times. He easily could have ripped a total of 500-plus over that span. Unlocking the next level of Brea’s confidence is step one.
Brea really doesn’t do anything else on the court positively, and so the next two big steps for him to stick in the NBA will be becoming a successful 0.5 driver with quick choices off strong closeouts and hanging as a defender. If he can just do the minimum in those two departments, the shooting is beyond elite enough to turn him into a specialist every other front office would be envious of the Suns having.
From a draft perspective, the Suns couldn’t have done much better. How the offseason as a whole can be graded depends on how the next couple of weeks goes and how much value they extract from the Williams trade. But they’ve absolutely crushed one aspect of it.
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