The Phoenix Suns are regularly spoken about as a franchise that traded away all of their future assets to try and win now, but that is not entirely true. Their own second-round pick in Oso Ighodaro has easily exceeded expectations, while Ryan Dunn and Koa Peat are part of the 15-man roster. Rasheer Fleming is another who has clear potential, but he won't be seen again until the Suns steady the ship defensively.
Suns don't have space for offensive game of Fleming right now
Sophomore Fleming has only appeared in two games so far and is clearly not a part of Head Coach Jordan Ott's 10-man rotation for the foreseeable future. If he could help them on the defensive end, it would be a different story, but Fleming is at his best when he has the ball in space to create for himself. There is an NBA starting-calibre scorer in there; we are just some way away from seeing it on a consistent basis.
The Suns also cannot afford to give Fleming that runway to figure out what he can be right now, because they are trying to get more out of their pricey new addition, Miles Bridges. He occupies the same part of the court as Fleming, and the returns so far have been underwhelming. Both are weak defenders, but Bridges cost a frankly ridiculous amount to acquire and can score on all three levels, so Fleming will never be given an opportunity to take some of his minutes.
Whenever the Suns can figure out a way to get stops, it will open the door for Fleming to come off the bench again and earn spot minutes. The problem with that is that, for the team to get stops, it is going to mean one of Peat or Dunn likely joining the starting five or extended rotation, likely at the continued expense of Fleming.
Fleming in wrong situation to grow into scorer he can be
There is no easy solution here, and an eventual parting of ways may be what works best for both sides. Not because Fleming doesn't have the talent, there is a player in there, but the Suns have so many fires to put out right now that his development is not even on their radar.
All that could save Fleming is morphing into a legitimate two-way forward, and one who can play alongside Devin Booker. That seems as likely to happen as Dillon Brooks never receiving another technical again (that last one was different, promise), which tells you all you need to know about the uphill battle Fleming is going to have to climb to stick in Phoenix.
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