Rasheer Fleming’s rise has become one of the more interesting under-the-radar developments around the Suns, and the reason is pretty simple: Phoenix thinks there’s real upside here, even if the rest of the league didn’t exactly line up to tell him that early.
That part of the story goes back to Camden, New Jersey. Fleming wasn’t a highly recruited high school player coming out of Camden High School.
He drew just five offers and wasn’t rated as a prospect at all. Now he’s in a Suns uniform, sharing the floor with players who were ranked among ESPN’s top 100 prospects, and the gap between those two realities says plenty about how far he’s come.
Jordan Ott made it clear on Monday at Suns Media Day that the organization sees more than just a second-round pick trying to find his way.
“What excites me is we don’t know where that ceiling is,” Ott stated to the Media. “I think he continues to raise the floor by his work, his care, his understanding of who he is as a player.
He has no idea where his ceiling is, nor do we. He has physical gifts that you cannot teach.
He has tremendous instincts that at times you just shake your head…how did he get to that? And now he’s starting to feel it, and that feeling of ‘I belong, I can do this.’”
Ott also pointed to the fact that Fleming’s path has never been the typical one.
“His high school, college career is different. He wasn’t on every list, and now he understands he has the talent and the ability, and it’s our job as a staff to help him realize he can do it,” Ott continued.
“And he showed late in the season when there’s opportunity that he can do it, and we have to continue to push the limits because he didn’t have all the notoriety or recognition most of these guys have had. He’s different.
His path is different. That’s what’s exciting.”
That’s the thread running through all of this: Fleming’s tools are obvious, but the bigger question is how often he can turn them into something the Suns can actually use. For a second-round pick, “hitting” doesn’t have to mean becoming a centerpiece.
It means becoming a rotation piece who gives real minutes and real production. Ideally, that looks a lot like a three-and-D player, because the frame, length and athleticism are already there.
Teammates have noticed the growth too. Ryan Dunn described it as a steady climb.
“Rasheer just really growing and building in his work and his game and the size that he has and the athleticism he’s gifted with,” said teammate Ryan Dunn. “You can just see it every time.”
Fleming’s own view is a little more grounded, which fits the way this has unfolded so far.
“Just seeing that I can battle with these guys...I can run out there with my teammates and do the right things.”
That’s the next step for Phoenix: not asking him to become something he’s not, but getting him to trust that he belongs at this level and can deliver consistent minutes when the opportunity comes. The Suns don’t need a finished product right away.
They need the flashes to become something repeatable. If that happens, they may have more than a useful second-round pick on their hands.
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