We can't lie, after all the negativity around the Miles Bridges trade (which still hasn't actually gone through...), it has been nice to watch and enjoy the Phoenix Suns at Summer League in Las Vegas.
To this point they've beaten the Portland Trail Blazers and lost to the New Orleans Pelicans, not that the outcome of these games actually matters.
Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat already pushing for bigger role
It has also quickly become clear that both Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat are going to be pushing for more regular season run from the jump, which is the best case scenario for the franchise. We saw this coming with Fleming, already he is helping to close the biggest hole that currently exists on this roster.
With Grayson Allen and Royce O'Neale out of the picture, not to mention Ryan Dunn failing to find consistency through two seasons in The Valley, Fleming might end up being the sixth man here when all is said and done.
He's got the length to disrupt opponents defensively, and we've already seen some stellar blocking out of the 22-year-old as well. He's comfortable stepping into 3-pointers and it feels like his ability to score at all three levels is only going to improve in the next couple of seasons.
Peat has been exactly as advertized, but it has still been encouraging to see him be the wrecking ball on the glass he promised he would be. If nothing else, his energy and desire to chase after every ball is a trait head coach Jordan Ott is surely going to fall in love with.
The path to taking minutes off Dillon Brooks (or indeed Bridges) still looks a difficult one, but Oso Ighodaro may be looking over his shoulder some.
He's more athletic and has got a level of physicality thanks to his build that Peat can't match, but the former Arizona standout does appear to have that dog in him which is harder to quantify but has not always been true of Ighodaro's game.
Neither were ever going to start for this team when fully healthy, but we've seen Jalen Green deal with injuries enough to realize that opportunities are going to present themselves. This may feel like reading too much into Summer League play, and it is true many of the guys they are matching up against will never make it in the NBA proper.
But both Fleming and Peat already look like they possess some of the skills this roster is lacking, and they are using Summer League as an early springboard to future success.
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