Koa Peat knows where he has to be at his best for Suns

PHOENIX — When Koa Peat was asked what his goals for the summer were, the Phoenix Suns rookie’s answer might have surprised you.

“One goal for me is to try to lead the summer league in offensive rebounding,” he said. “Just trying to be a menace on the glass.”

Even though Peat’s got tons to prove after he nearly fell out of the first round as a projected mid-to-late lottery pick at the start of the season, he’s not going to get lost on contributing in the ways he knows best. That’s despite all the conversation surrounding his jumper and how that has been a large focus of Peat’s since leaving Tucson, some hard work he certainly wants to show off in Las Vegas.

But if you really know Peat as a player, that answer actually shouldn’t surprise you.

“He definitely got the right mindset,” Suns guard Jordan Goodwin said of Peat. “And he got the right size to do it. It’s gonna be nice. Happy that we actually got him, and that just shows the culture right now. He already buying into the system and he only been here a week. I like that energy.”

While the consensus on Peat’s worrisome jumper is primarily why he slid to No. 30 in the NBA Draft, where the Suns traded up for him, it’s not necessarily going to be a preventative defect that keeps him off the floor.

Sure, if we’re talking about Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, the spacing element might be out of whack. But in terms of helping the Suns win basketball games next season, Peat is equipped to do that in a few key ways. He’s got NBA-ready strength at 6-foot-8, moves fairly well at that size and has all the smaller traits to accentuate those athletic advantages like his rebounding, team defense, passing and so on.

As long as the speed of the league and its learning curve doesn’t knock him on his ass, Peat fits directly into what the Suns want from their players.

“He’s a physical beast. He’s big,” Suns guard Collin Gillespie said. “I feel like he’s got really good guard skills. … He’s big, man. Obviously you can see it on TV but then when you see it in person.

“He has the ability to handle the ball and create for others, and I think he’s a great decision-maker. The shooting piece will come. He’s gonna work tirelessly at that. You know what kind of player you’re going to get out of him. He’s gonna play extremely hard, gonna compete on both ends of the floor, and he’s a worker. We’re really excited to have him.”

Summer League, which begins on Friday for Phoenix, is going to offer Peat a great opportunity to fill those gaps. With second-year players like Khaman Maluach, Rasheer Fleming and Koby Brea set to take much of the attention, Peat can do all the little things, like he did on a well-balanced Arizona squad and like he will in the league.

With that said, the spotlight will still be set on his shot. How does he handle the open space he will see beyond the 3-point line? Will he take 3s? How many? What’s the form on his jumper look like?

Here’s what he told Arizona Sports in terms of what the work has been like on the jumper.

“Just trying to shoot the ball the same way every time,” Peat said. “Working on that. Just working with my guys, working in here, getting reps up and just trying to become the best version of myself.”

What gets lost in this conversation is that Peat’s a comfortable midrange shooter mechanically. The consistency he is looking for with his form, something that has an art and science to it, has a baseline to work from already in those ranges of 12-18 feet. Figuring out how to bring that from deeper out is the key.

“I feel like I’m really good at my middy pull-up and turnaround fadeaways, (so) I feel like with time and work my 3-point shot is going to come along,” he said. “Just trying to be confident and keep shooting the ball every time.”

And as a worker who has already been utilizing the resource that is Phoenix’s practice facility, often getting in there multiple times a day, Peat doesn’t sound like someone worried about how his jumper will develop over time.

“Super confident,” he said. “I’m all about getting better and learning new things.”

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