It goes without saying that when your team is winning basketball games and its highest-priced players are sitting on the bench in street clothes, you are probably getting contributions from guys you did not expect. There is one guy who, before the season even started, felt like someone you could not imagine contributing at this point of the year. The reason is simple. He was not on the roster.
When we did our preseason SunsRank (which is fun to go back and look at, by the way), he was not even an option.
It will be interesting to see where he lands in SunsRank now because he has been a quality addition to the group.
I am talking about Jamaree Bouyea.
He is 6’2” and his path to this point feels like something out of a basketball odyssey. He went to the University of San Francisco, the same place that produced Bill Russell, Bill Cartwright, and Ime Udoka.
He went undrafted in 2022, and his journey from there is astonishing. He opened his career with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League. He then spent time with the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards, and the Portland Trail Blazers before heading to the Rip City Remix in 2023. That is five stops in his first year. The list kept growing. He returned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, moved to the San Antonio Spurs, then down to their G League affiliate in Austin in 2024. In 2025 he landed with the Milwaukee Bucks before being sent to their G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, and he eventually circled back to the Austin Spurs to start this season.
Across two years he made 11 stops and logged 19 NBA games. That is the player the Phoenix Suns picked up. Their guard depth took a hit due to injuries and after a couple of strong starts with the Valley Suns, he arrived in Phoenix on a two-way contract.
He has played in eight games for Phoenix so far. In 13.4 minutes per night, he is giving them 7.4 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.1 rebounds. He is shooting 62.5% from deep. He steps on the floor in moments when primary scoring is sitting down and he gives the Suns meaningful minutes.
His game is hard to label. He is a baller, that’s the best way I can describe him. He has a little Cameron Payne in the way he drives downhill, although his three-point stroke is much smoother. He carries the confidence of Leandro Barbosa, another shifty guard who once thrived with this organization. He looks like the guy at the YMCA on a Saturday morning who destroys everyone with quick-twitch moves, a nasty crossover, and a pure jumper. He is doing all of that for the Suns, and he is doing it with belief in every step he takes. He is entering games in high-level situations, and he is executing.
He was part of the run that flipped the game for the Suns last night. He joined Jordan Goodwin, Collin Gillespie, Ryan Dunn, and Oso Ighodaro on the floor. That group opened the fourth with a 14-3 push and finished as a +6. The team needed that on the road in the fourth without their stars.
Where Bouyea goes from here is hard to predict. He is another great story in a season packed with them. His rise feels like the kind of spark that keeps a team steady through the grind, a reminder that opportunity can show up without warning and reward the ones who stay ready. Bouyea is living that idea in real time, and the Valley is seeing the impact every night he steps on the floor.
