Rasheer Fleming’s length, athleticism and frame are obvious. The next step is getting him to play before he thinks.
That was the takeaway from Phoenix’s preseason loss to San Antonio, a game that gave the Suns a cleaner look at some of their younger pieces because the Spurs played their starters into the third quarter while Phoenix sat its entire starting group. In that setting, Fleming had a chance to show he can handle more responsibility. Instead, the night mostly underscored how far he still has to go in learning to trust what comes naturally.
Fleming finished 4-for-10 from the floor, missed all four of his 3s, and scored 8 points. He added 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 fouls and 3 turnovers. The line wasn’t disastrous, but it was the kind of performance that left him easy to miss for long stretches, which is never a great sign when a player is supposed to be seizing an opportunity.
What stood out most was hesitation. Fleming looked like a player stuck in between reads, and that indecision showed up again and again.
On several possessions, he caught the ball outside the arc and seemed to pause between firing the open jumper and putting the ball on the deck to attack a defender who wasn’t squarely in front of him. The advantage was there.
He just didn’t snap into it fast enough.
That’s where Ryan Dunn provided a useful contrast in the same game. When Dunn got the ball on the perimeter, he made his choice quickly and went downhill.
Fleming, by comparison, hovered between options. That split-second delay mattered.
None of that means the struggle is permanent. It does, though, reinforce the reality of where Fleming is in his development.
He’s a second-year, second-round pick still sorting out what kind of NBA player he’s going to be. The work is there.
The tools are there. The bigger issue is converting those traits into instinctive basketball.
Defensively, there were also some rough edges. Fleming spent time taking on Stephon Castle at the point of attack, and it’s fair to give him credit for that assignment.
But those possessions also exposed some issues with positioning and awareness. His head was constantly moving, as if he was bracing for a screen from somewhere instead of staying locked on the man in front of him.
Against a quick group like San Antonio’s guards, that’s all it takes for an advantage to appear.
The fix, at least in part, is trust. Fleming needs to trust his teammates to call out screens so he can stay connected to his direct matchup rather than trying to account for everything himself.
That doesn’t sound like a dead end. It sounds like part of the process.
And there’s still belief inside the organization that Fleming may not even fully know how good he can become. The path there runs through sharper instincts, quicker processing and a little less thinking on the fly.
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