The Toronto Raptors may have just been handed a clean opening to add shooting, and it came from an unlikely place: Phoenix cutting loose Koby Brea.
According to HoopsHype’s Mike Scotto, the Suns waived the 41st pick in the 2025 NBA Draft from his two-way deal today. Toronto now has one two-way spot available after signing Nate Bittle, and Brea fits the kind of need that jumps off the page for a team still looking for more offense on the perimeter.
Brea’s path in Phoenix was never especially clear. Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks already held major roles in the Suns’ wing rotation, and Phoenix also had plenty of depth on the perimeter. On top of that, Brea’s defensive profile does not lean into the kind of grit and physicality that tends to get rewarded on a team with the culture Jordan Ott built last season.
Even so, the fit in Toronto is not hard to see. He is not a perfect match for Darko Rajaković’s roster, but the Raptors need three-point shooting badly, and Brea offers exactly that in a package that could help right away.
His NBA sample was brief, but it did show the skill. In 12 games for the Suns last season, Brea shot 43.3% from three-point range and averaged 3.8 points in 7.0 minutes per game. Still, the bigger selling point is what he did before getting to the league.
Coming into the 2025 NBA Draft, I had a first-round grade on Brea as a prospect because he was such a potent shooter in college. Over 149 career college games, he shot 43.4 percent from three on 4.9 attempts per game and shot 49.8 percent in his fourth year with Dayton before shooting 43.5 percent from three in his final college year at Kentucky. Anytime Brea was on the court in college, defenses’ heads were on a swivel, making sure he didn’t get freed up even a little bit because, whether it was right off the catch or a pump fake into one dribble, he was automatic from deep.
He is not limited to standing in the corner, either. Brea has real deep range and can fire from well beyond the arc the second he crosses half court.
Toronto has already seen how useful a dependable shooter can be in Jamison Battle, and how much that kind of spacing can open things up for everyone else. Bobby Webster could follow that same blueprint with Brea, especially with a two-way slot open and available.
He is not a flawless prospect, but the Raptors keep hearing the same message about what they need more of, and Brea checks that box. With a developmental spot ready to go, this feels like an easy move to make.
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