The Phoenix Suns didn’t need Summer League to tell them they want to be a tougher team. Through two games in Las Vegas, they’ve made that part loud and clear.
On Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Pelicans, that edge showed up again even in a 81-75 loss that never really tilted Phoenix’s way. The Suns opened slowly for the second straight game, managing just 12 points in the first quarter after putting up only 10 against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
This time there was no rally to rescue them. New Orleans stayed in front from start to finish and handed Phoenix its first Summer League defeat.
The box score says the Pelicans won the game by hitting more threes, finishing +15 from beyond the arc. But the bigger story for Phoenix was what forced that perimeter-heavy approach in the first place. New Orleans had to work to get inside, and when it did, it ran into a Suns group that was leaning into contact and making every trip through the paint uncomfortable.
That physical tone has been the through line for Phoenix so far. It was there in the opener, and it was there again Sunday. For a team trying to build an identity, that matters more than the final score in a July game.
The foul count told part of the story. Phoenix was called for 22 fouls, and rookie Koa Peat went over the legal limit for the second game in a row, this time with seven.
He has 15 fouls in two games in Vegas. Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach added to that same theme, combining for 4 blocks and 2 steals while also picking up 8 fouls between them.
That’s the kind of interior activity the Suns have been missing in recent seasons, and it’s exactly what their young group is trying to bring into the pipeline now. There’s size here.
There’s length. There’s a willingness to meet opponents at the rim and make them feel every possession.
Maluach’s game against New Orleans was especially notable. He posted 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, hit 2 of 4 from three, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked 2 shots without committing a turnover.
Darius Brown II also put together a strong line with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Koa Peat finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals.
Fleming had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. Javonte Cooke added 9 points, and Jameer Nelson Jr. had 8 points and 2 steals.
The Suns’ first game in Vegas had already given Maluach the early Bright Side Baller nod after he went for 19 points and 11 rebounds against Portland. In the loss to New Orleans, he was again among the nominees, along with Brown, Peat, Fleming, Cooke and Nelson Jr.
Summer League won’t answer every question about these players. It’s too early for that.
But it can reveal what a team is trying to become, and Phoenix has been pretty easy to read so far. The Suns want length, they want physicality, and they want opponents to leave feeling like they’ve been through something.
That may not show up in the standings in July, but it could shape the way Phoenix plays for a long time.
In Other News...
Suns Offseason Leaves One Huge Question Hanging Over Devin Booker
The Suns spent the offseason trying to steady a roster that has been reshaped around Devin Booker, re-signing Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams while bringing in Luke Kennard and swinging the trade for Miles Bridges. Phoenix also moved on from Grayson Allen and Royce ONeale, part of a wider reset that still leaves Booker as the focal point of everything the team wants to do on offense and in the half court.
What makes the picture more complicated is that the supporting cast around him is still very much in flux. Bridges arrives with off-court baggage that will keep attention on him for reasons the Suns would rather avoid, while the summer offered a glimpse of possible internal help from Khaman Maluach and Koa Peat. If either young player can grow into a real rotation piece, it would ease some pressure, but for now Phoenix is still waiting to see whether the offseason actually solved enough around its star. [Read more 🡒]
Two Young Suns Are Already Forcing An Uncomfortable Rotation Question
Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat have spent Summer League making the kind of impression that can complicate a coachs depth chart before the real games even begin. Fleming has flashed the defensive presence and scoring upside that make him look more than like a developmental flier, while Peat has brought the kind of rebounding and relentless energy that tends to stick with decision-makers long after July ends.
For the Suns, the bigger question is not whether either young player has looked good in a summer setting, but how that translates once the rotation tightens and the competition changes. Fleming and Peat have both put themselves in the conversation for more regular-season minutes, and even if Summer League is an imperfect measuring stick, their play has at least created an uncomfortable kind of pressure on a roster that still has established names ahead of them. [Read more 🡒]
Suns May Have Made Their Smartest Aaron Gordon Decision Yet
Phoenix once spent time as a possible landing spot for Aaron Gordon, a fit that made sense for a team looking for a rugged forward who could defend, finish and fit alongside star talent. Instead, the Suns went another direction, adding Miles Bridges and then using the draft to bring in Koa Peat, a rookie whose early Summer League play has already started to turn heads because of how closely his game resembles the kind of versatile forward Phoenix once had in mind.
Peats encouraging start gives the Suns something more interesting than a simple fallback plan. With Dillon Brooks and Bridges helping the club stay competitive now, Phoenix also appears to be layering in younger talent for what comes next, and that is where the Peat storyline gets intriguing. If his early flashes keep building, the Suns may have found a version of the Gordon idea without having to pay the price a trade for the veteran would have demanded. [Read more 🡒]