The Suns have a roster problem that has been hanging there in plain sight: they need a big wing who can make a shot, handle a little creation, and hold up defensively against bigger scorers. Rasheer Fleming looks like the answer to that hole.
Phoenix already saw enough from the rookie in a few spots last season, including a playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, to believe he can do a little bit of everything they’re asking for. He hit 3-pointers at a reasonable clip, got into some of his own actions with the ball in hand, and showed he can stay connected to larger scorers.
That makes him a key Summer League name, even if the immediate role picture is already pretty crowded. The Suns brought in Miles Bridges, but they also lost Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale, two wings who mattered in most of head coach Jordan Ott's lineups. Neither was a true lockdown defender, though Allen deserves some love, and that’s part of why Fleming suddenly matters so much.
He is not going to open the season in the starting five. Phoenix did not pay a small fortune to bring in Bridges only to send him to the bench, and Dillon Brooks is too important to the starting group for that kind of reshuffling.
Still, there’s real value in what Fleming could do behind them. If he can push Collin Gillespie for sixth man duties, with bigger things in view later, that would be a major win for a team still trying to stack regular-season victories. The idea of bench units with that duo, plus Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach, gives the Suns a different look.
If Phoenix lets Green run with that group, they’d be tough to score on and would have a streaky shooter leading the way. Fleming could also chip in with some secondary playmaking and give Green a release valve when the shot isn’t falling.
The Suns also have a practical need here: they have to replace the regular-season minutes that Allen and O'Neale used to soak up. Fleming has the young legs and the profile to do exactly that.
There’s even a path to a tougher conversation later on if he comes out firing. Green could wind up coming off the bench, or even be moved altogether, if Fleming hits the ground running. And even if that never comes to pass, the simple truth is that nobody else on the roster brings his exact blend of skills.
That matters for Ott, and it likely closes the door on Ryan Dunn. Fleming is what the former first-round pick was supposed to be, but the league doesn’t wait around forever, and the moment for Fleming seems to be arriving now.
That’s why the front office was comfortable parting with two veterans for Bridges. Rasheer Fleming is the reason.
In Other News...
Suns Just Made The Kind Of Move Fans Have Been Begging For
The Suns spent the early part of the summer making sure two of their most useful pieces were not going anywhere, re-signing Collin Gillespie and Mark Williams on multi-year deals that lock in backcourt steadiness and frontcourt size. Gillespies rise was one of the quieter success stories on the roster, a breakout season that gave Phoenix a reliable shooting presence and a new franchise benchmark from beyond the arc, while Williams gave the team the kind of interior production it has long needed when he was on the floor.
For a front office that has been under pressure to get value and continuity right, both contracts look like the sort of business fans have been asking for. Analyst Steph Noh viewed each deal as favorable relative to the impact the Suns can reasonably expect, which matters for a team trying to build around players who can actually fit together. The bigger question now is how much more of the roster Phoenix can stabilize after checking off two important boxes. [Read more 🡒]
Two Young Suns Suddenly Face A Brutal Fight To Stick
With the Suns roster now set for the season, the attention has shifted from building the team to sorting out who actually fits in the nightly rotation. Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro are both expected to get a longer look, but the path to steady minutes is anything but clear, especially with the front office having added more bodies who can crowd the same spots on the floor.
Ighodaro has the cleaner case right now because of his versatility and the way he can fill different roles, while Dunn is facing a tougher climb as the competition tightens around him. If either player gets squeezed out of the rotation, the pressure only grows from there, because the Suns are already in a position where every developmental decision has to be weighed against immediate help and the possibility of moving pieces before the deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Suns May Have Just Reopened A Problem Fans Thought Was Gone
The Suns latest swing has already drawn plenty of second-guessing, and its easy to see why. Phoenix sent Miles Bridges to Charlotte and brought back Grayson Allen, Royce ONeale and an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, a package that gives the roster more shooting, more wing depth and a future asset to point to if the move works out.
Still, the reaction around the deal has been far less settled than the Hornets side of it, where the focus has been on veteran help and draft capital after moving on from players viewed as bad influences. For Phoenix, the bigger question is whether this was a clean basketball upgrade or the kind of transaction that reopens old concerns about whether the Suns are buying into a short-term fit without much certainty about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]