The Phoenix Suns are still trimming and shaping the roster as the 2026-27 season approaches, and Koby Brea is the latest player to lose his spot.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, Phoenix has waived the second-year sharpshooter after already making a string of other moves, including bringing in Duop Reath on a two-way contract, waiving Haywood Highsmith, extending Oso Ighodaro, and picking up the option on Ryan Dunn.
Brea entered the league with real buzz around his jumper. The Suns took him 41st overall in the 2025 NBA Draft out of Kentucky after a standout college run that made him one of the NCAA’s best three-point shooters. But that one elite skill never held up consistently enough at the next level.
He played in 12 games for Phoenix last season and went 13-of-30 from three, good for 43.3%. That kind of efficiency gave the Suns reason to believe there was more there, especially with Summer League and the preseason still ahead to keep building his case as a perimeter weapon.
Instead, the shot dipped. In Summer League, Brea hit 8-of-28 from deep, a 28.6% clip. In the preseason, he was 3-of-10 from three, which came out to 30%.
That’s the danger for a player whose biggest selling point is shooting: if the shot isn’t dropping, the margin for error gets thin fast. For Phoenix, that meant Brea became the odd man out.
The Suns now have one two-way contract spot open as they continue making their final roster decisions before the regular season. Brea had shown enough in limited NBA minutes to keep hope alive, but the recent slump from outside pushed Phoenix toward a different choice.
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This summer, though, the Suns made enough changes that his spot became easier to move on from. With the rotation picture shifting and fewer openings for the kind of role Highsmith filled, Phoenix chose to go in another direction, even if his brief stint showed he can still help a team in the right setting. For a player with his background, there should be opportunities elsewhere once rosters around the league settle down. [Read more 🡒]
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Timme now joins Duop Reath and Pat Spencer as the Suns two-way players, which makes that end of the roster worth watching as the season takes shape. For a team trying to keep its front line steady through an injury absence, the move is less about splash and more about whether the Suns can piece together enough reliable depth in the paint to stay afloat. [Read more 🡒]