The biggest misstep the Phoenix Suns committed this season was losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the play-in tournament, and they are being made to pay for it.
It is likely to be a quick series versus the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, and although a single win is going to be hard to come by, that doesn't mean it is all bad news.
Suns' rookies benefitting from exposure to postseason
If you tuned in to the Game 1 loss in Oklahoma, then you would have seen rookies Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming get a surprising amount of run.
Some of this was out of necessity with both Grayson Allen and Mark Williams unavailable, but the duo still made the most of their opportunity.
Fleming in particular looks nailed on to be a regular part of the rotation as soon as next season, and he did not looked intimidated at all going up against the Thunder.
His nine points (all coming via 3-pointers) in only eight minutes of action the highest of any bench player, and despite the defending by the Thunder being as insane as you would expect in the playoffs, Fleming still showed off his impressive array of offensive talent.
Rasheer Fleming now 3-3 from 3, Dillon Brooks approves pic.twitter.com/yIdbDfnBpa
— Cage (@ridiculouscage) April 19, 2026
Already he looks like he can make Ryan Dunn expendable, while for Maluach it was encouraging for an entirely different reason.
Williams is still likely to be brought back on an extension this offseason, but Maluach's 15 minutes of action proved there is a place for more traditional big man in Phoenix in the postseason.
Williams sitting the entire fourth-quarter of the loss to the Trail Blazers was awful, but this proves that was as much a matchup issue as anything else.
Although the Thunder have a myriad of ways they can score on you, a large interior presence in Maluach was able to hold his own for a surprising amount of time given his lack of a consistent role this season.
That one game alone was the reason why teams should try and push for the postseason, even when they have no chance of winning a championship.
Falling into the cycle of missing out every year does not help the youngsters on your roster at all, as the Charlotte Hornets are figuring out now as they try hard to break a cycle of mediocrity.
LaMelo Ball has just finished his sixth season in the league and never been in the playoffs. Maluach and Fleming are experiencing it at the first time of asking.
There are definitely more beatdowns coming the Suns' way in the next week or so, but the positive long-term impact on their young players is already obvious.
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