The Phoenix Suns have added three players to address their weak frontcourt in the last two days, and they managed to upset the Boston Celtics while doing it.
The Phoenix Suns entered the 2025 NBA offseason with only the 29th and 52nd picks in the draft, but after trading Kevin Durant and future assets, they managed to pick tenth overall, selecting Duke standout Khaman Maluach, and trading the 29th pick for Mark Williams.
The Suns, around Devin Booker, clearly needed to address size, and they sent three second-round picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves, including the 46th pick in this year’s draft, to add the 31st pick.
With that selection, they added Rasheer Fleming, the consensus best player still on the board heading into night two of the draft. However, they were not the only team with their eye on Fleming.
Boston Celtics wanted to draft Rasheer Fleming
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it was long known that the Wolves had interest in trading the 31st pick. The Boston Celtics, who held pick 32, wanted Fleming, although so did plenty of other teams, and the Suns ended up winning the bidding war.
“I’m told the Celtics were going to take Rasheer Fleming from St. Joseph at number 32,” reported Charania during the second round broadcast.
“So now the Suns have jumped to 31, and now they will be really considering Rasheer Fleming at that selection. And that’s on the heels of, as you just mentioned, drafting Khaman Maluach last night. And then, within minutes, acquiring Mark Williams in a trade. We know the Suns had major issues at center last season. They had issues with their size. They’ve done a good job here of getting two high upside big men.”
Fleming projects to be a gritty, high-energy role player for the Suns, and they desperately need help with defense and shooting.
While his outside shot is not a guarantee, he was solid in college, and he plays with a high motor, which is needed in Phoenix after a season of Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic.
While Fleming likely would have landed in a better developmental situation had the Celtics picked him, he will play a large role for the Suns, and Boston ended up with a quality player of their own.
Boston Celtics select Noah Penda
Noah Penda, like Fleming, was one of the consensus best players still left on draft boards.
He shot only 30.4% from deep in the French League, but he is a high-level passer for a wing and will make shooters like Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and even Baylor Sheierman better.
If he can add a shot of his own, Boston fans will quickly forget about Fleming and what could have been. For now, Penda certainly excels more on defense than offense, but in France, he averaged a well-rounded 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.
While he likely wants to play point guard, he doesn’t have the handle for that, but he will be a do-all player at the end of the bench in Boston, which is the type of player both Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla tend to gravitate to.
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