Suns’ young core of Maluach, Fleming, Peat all flash in Vegas

The hope in Year 2 of summer league for draft picks is that their year around an NBA team shows, and that they stand out with either athleticism, skill, talent or all of the above.

Mission accomplished for second-year Phoenix Suns players Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach, who both had great showings in Phoenix’s pair of summer league games over the weekend.

Maluach, across the two contests, had over two dozen instances of either contesting a shot at the basket or having his presence around the paint be enough for a ball-handler to make a decision that did nothing productive for the offense.

In Friday’s opener, Maluach had 19 points and 11 rebounds with two steals and a block. Sunday’s outing of 15 points, 15 rebounds, a steal and two blocks was also productive.

The smallest ask for him was for Maluach to look like a top-10 pick through plays he could make that most cannot.

The Khaman Maluach experience in 23 seconds ‼️ pic.twitter.com/anA3Fz5NDa

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 12, 2026

Fleming looked comfortable on the floor, contributing in the ways he did toward the end of last season when he got a brief crack in the rotation. Offensive rebounds, extra passes, on-ball defense and rotations off the ball were all there in both games.

The highlight of the weekend was possessions in which the combination of Fleming and Maluach deterred a possession together. There were more than a few, where their experience through a full year around the Suns showed.

pic.twitter.com/zk4dC17ynl

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) July 12, 2026

Fleming was also confident and mechanically sound, taking a few pull-up 2s, and his 3-point motion looked a lot more consistent compared to the small variations we saw from him as a rookie. The numbers weren’t great: 1-for-8 on 3s in the two games, but the process was there.

On that note, Maluach drilled a trio of 3s on Friday and two more on Sunday. The set shot looked good, and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets the green light next season.

Khaman looking comfortable beyond the arc 👌 pic.twitter.com/TioSEzz8ma

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 11, 2026

It was not perfect for any of these guys, particularly Maluach.

The positioning on defense was not as concrete as you’d like to be in his second year, even though it was much improved. Maluach can still recover from being a full step out, but good teams won’t allow him to rely on that gap.

A big point of improvement for Maluach will be his hands. This was something flagged during his lone year at Duke, whether it was on passes received around the basket or going up for rebounds. A handful of his turnovers were simply losing his dribble with no pressure or mishandling the catch of a pass. There was one play early in Sunday’s game when Maluach would have been able to shoot a 3 had he caught the pass properly.

He’s also gotta be smarter with the ball as a hub, where he made some poor choices on the passes he made, whether it was because his teammate wasn’t open or he sent one inaccurately. Maluach had seven turnovers on Friday.

Fleming has to continue working on not over-committing as a pest on the ball. It looks fantastic when he slides step for step with a ball-handler but he has a tendency to be too aggressive when his quickness for his size can only do so much. There are also obvious advancements that have to come with his off-the-dribble game, particularly attacking closeouts and being the right mix of not too passive and not too aggressive.

All told, Maluach still looks quite raw in the areas where a coach would be worried about playing him real minutes. Fleming has most of those down but the accentuating pieces of his game are a work in progress. Neither dominated in a “Too Good To Be Here” fashion, a trope of summer league when a young player is clearly better than anyone else out there and well-positioned to make a substantial impact in the league that upcoming season. Both, however, should be able to contribute in the lower ends of the rotation.

Koa Peat provides strong first impression

While the Tucson connection ensured some watching had seen Koa Peat play before, those who hadn’t were given a nice first impression into what Peat is all about.

The 19-year-old provided a good scoring punch in the weekend, while the brightest flashes came from his passing, which should benefit from the extra pace and space of the NBA style of play.

Thought Koa Peat flashed a bit as a playmaker/passer last night pic.twitter.com/4DH6eu6VGE

— RB (Ringless Bitch) (@RyB_311) July 11, 2026

Peat’s going to be able to score right away in the league if he is given space to slash in a straight line or use the small cycle of his go-to moves with two to three dribbles. As an example, he loves a spin move over his left shoulder into a fallaway jumper or a finish at the rim.

Koa Peat in his Summer League Debut

☄️ 17 PTS
☄️ 6-11 FG
☄️ 6 REB
☄️ 4 AST
☄️ 1 BLK pic.twitter.com/PvkQPq1pHf

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) July 11, 2026

Diversifying that is going to have to be a huge part of his development, as that was the reason his production hit a major wall in Big 12 play for the Arizona Wildcats.

Peat posted 17 points on 11 shots in Friday’s win to go with six rebounds, four assists and three turnovers, while Sunday yielded 12 points, four rebounds, an assist and four turnovers.

We actually did not see Peat’s 3-point jumper in either game. Summer league teams are coached to play at a high intensity level on defense, so strategic decisions like leaving a non-shooter open come and go depending on the philosophy of the given coaching staff. We’ll see if we can get a look at it in the final week.

There also weren’t many opportunities for him to contribute defensively, where Peat can move a bit on the ball but is the most useful as a rotating team defender. Summer league won’t provide the greatest light on that. With that in mind, his motor wasn’t quite in the hair-on-fire category it needs to be, where he trailed behind in comparison to guys like Fleming and especially Maluach.

Koby Brea has poor shooting stretch

While Koby Brea was a mid-second-round pick with little expectations set upon him this upcoming year, the Suns’ lack of shooting would have made it nice to see Brea show out in Vegas as a Year 2 guy who logged tons of G League experience. Instead, he shot a combined 2-for-17 during the weekend. Brea did a good job staying aggressive, the biggest point of criticism in his game, but the shots were not falling. He’s the top player to keep an eye on in the concluding three games.

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