The Phoenix Suns may be close to opening the door for rookie forward Koa Peat.
Peat has barely been part of the regular-season picture so far, which fits the way the Suns have handled the first-round pick through the opening stretch. He has appeared in four games and logged just two, three, three and seven minutes in those outings, with the team’s veteran-heavy rotations keeping him on the outside looking in.
Still, head coach Jordan Ott made it clear Thursday night that Peat is getting closer to a real chance.
“You can just feel the size differential that we just lack, plain and simple. Rasheer (Fleming) has some of that too.
There was probably an opportunity there last night for Rasheer and he just got unlucky in a practice. Koa is next and he’s right there on the tip,” Ott said Thursday night.
Ott pointed to the way the game is trending as part of the reason Peat is drawing closer to the rotation.
“We understand that he’s young and he doesn’t have a ton of NBA game experience but the way the game is moving, the ability to drive, process and defend the drive, he appears to have it. He’s right there, he keeps working. He’ll get his opportunity, and we have full faith that that’s what’s coming.
“That type of prototype of player that he has already instinctually, he’s right there, right on the cusp.”
That message lines up with one of the Suns’ lingering problems. Size was a major issue last season and has surfaced again early this year, with Phoenix not quite matching the physical edge and defensive competitiveness it wanted.
Peat’s frame and strength could help there. Listed at 6-8, 345 lbs, he brings unusual bulk for a perimeter player, along with a willingness to attack downhill - a trait Ott seems to value as he tries to shape the offense.
The Suns have also shown they’re willing to use the G League to get rookies minutes, as they recently did with Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach last season. But Ott said the current roster situation complicates that path for Peat.
“I think it’s the balance. He’s just right outside the rotation.
He’s a young guy that we want to see play. The G League is an incredible resource to use because it’s right here locally.
We start on the road I think with the G League, or else there might be an opportunity there,” Ott said.
“But with Rasheer and Goodie [Jordan Goodwin] being out, it makes it a little bit tough to send him there, and then [forbid] something happens where he’s not available for us. So he’s right on the cusp.
He keeps working. He’ll be in there.”
Phoenix hosts the Houston Rockets on Saturday and the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Peat’s minutes may not jump right away, but the signs point to him being next in line.
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The Suns are already tinkering with the pieces around their rough start, and the latest adjustment came before the matchup with Orlando when they swapped Khaman Maluach out of the first unit and moved Oso Ighodaro into the starting center spot. It is the kind of early-season change that signals urgency without quite tipping into panic, especially for a team still trying to settle on a workable rotation and find some stability around its core.
Jordan Ott also said rookie forward Koa Peat is close to cracking the rotation, another sign that Phoenix is looking inward for answers before reaching for something bigger. Jordan Goodwin and Rasheer Fleming are still sidelined but day-to-day, while Suns analyst Gerald Bourguet has already floated point guard trade ideas if the skid continues, though he would rather see the team exhaust its internal fixes first. [Read more 🡒]
Devin Booker Looked Like Himself In A Suns Win That Solved Nothing
Devin Booker looked like himself again in a Suns win that at least offered a familiar sight in an uneven start to the season. Phoenix beat the Orlando Magic 117-104 on the final stop of Orlandos four-game West Coast trip, with Booker leading the way with 28 points, eight assists and three steals while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Even so, the result did not exactly answer every question around this team. Orlandos 25 turnovers gave Phoenix plenty of easy offense, but the Magic also controlled the glass with 15 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points, a reminder that the Suns still have issues to sort through even when Booker is carrying the scoring load. [Read more 🡒]