With Mark Williams and Dillon Brooks out for an extended time with foot and hand injuries, respectively, Phoenix Suns rookies Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming are getting the most consistent playing time of their young careers, and fans want that to continue even when the two starters return.
I’m not surprised that 96% of fans want Fleming to continue to stay in the rotation. The rookie has started to consistently knock down his threes (he’s hitting an absurd 51.4% of his triples in his last 13
games), and has provided the Suns with a spark when he comes into games. Fleming’s energy, hustle and shooting were some of the main reasons the Suns were able to snap the Charlotte Hornets’ 10-game road winning streak last week; he had a career-high 16 in the game.
Fleming has overtaken Ryan Dunn in the rotation. Last game against the Toronto Raptors, Fleming played the second-most bench minutes on the entire team, while Dunn did not play. Fleming and Haywood Highsmith have become the team’s main reserve forwards, with Amir Coffey and Dunn sprinkling into the lineup occasionally.
If Fleming continues to knock down his triples and provide a defensive spark (he’s got five blocks in his last two games), I will not only agree with the fans but will expect him to remain in the rotation as the Suns fight for a playoff spot.
I am, however, surprised that 73% of fans want Maluach to stay in the lineup, even when Williams returns. Maluach plays less consistently than Fleming does (the big played less than four minutes in the team’s last game), and with two centers ahead of him in the rotation already, his skillset and playstyle doesn’t vary enough from Oso Ighodaro and Mark Williams for me to believe he has a strong value.
It is important for any team to focus on developing young players, especially for a Phoenix team that is not only thin on them, but lacking the ability to add many in the near future with limited draft compensation, but the team is in the thick of a heated playoff race.
Maluach has had his best moments as a pro in recent games. Against the New Orleans Pelicans last week, he became one of three rookies this season to have a five-block performance. When the team played the Hornets, he set his career-high in rebounds with nine, and against the Bucks, he set his career high in points with eight. That being said, it’s hard for teams to play so many bigs at the same time, and Williams is having one of the best seasons of his career, and Ighodaro has taken noteworthy jumps of late, especially with his playmaking.
The Suns tried playing three bigs earlier in the year when they had Nick Richards, and it did not work well for them; Richards was benched and then traded. Maluach doesn’t space the floor or provide the Suns with a different skill set than Williams or Ighodaro, so for now, I think the fans got this one wrong. Just Fleming should stay in the rotation when both Williams and Brooks return.
