Biggest Phoenix Suns overreactions from 2025 NBA Summer League

When the Suns got Ryan Dunn via a draft-night trade in 2024, the expectation was that his offense was going to need some time to come around. His three-point shot, in particular, was a work in progress, according to scouts. But in his rookie year, Dunn was surprisingly better from deep than expected, making over one a game at a 31.1 percent clip, and he also showed how much of a menace he can be on defense.

Dunn appears to be on track for an even stronger sophomore season. In two Summer League games thus far, Dunn is averaging 17.5 points on 65 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc. He’s also been very disruptive on defense, recording four stocks in two games.

A leap in three-point shooting efficiency will result in an overall increase in production for Dunn, which is what the Suns need as they look to remain afloat even amid their bleak future outlook.

Koby Brea, draft-night steal?

The Suns selected Brea with the 41st overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft after five seasons in college basketball — four at Dayton and one at Kentucky. Brea wasn’t able to establish himself as a starter for much of his collegiate career, although he established himself as one of the best pure shooters in his draft class.

His lack of production throughout his college career caused his fall in the draft. Even then, his shooting talent cannot be ignored. After all, he shot nearly 50 percent from three during the 2023-24 season and remained above 40 percent during his final year at Kentucky.

And for the first two games of Summer League, Brea did look like he was going to carve out a role for himself in the NBA — perhaps being someone like Sam Merrill, a three-point shooter off the bench who can defend. Brea made 60 percent of his threes in those games, and he even flashed some shooting off the bounce.

He did come crashing down to earth for Game 3, as he shot just 1-9 from the field in a disastrous outing against the Sacramento Kings. Brea isn’t expected to be a world-beater anyway, and as someone who relies on his jumpshot as often as he does, he’ll be very prone to this sort of off-game.

But he did look like a future rotation piece, provided that he improves his ability to shoot on the move and his ability to defend in space.

Suns fans better give Khaman Maluach some time

Suns fans have to afford Maluach the patience the team is giving him, if his first two games in Summer League is any indication. Being drafted 10th and coming in as a huge piece in the Durant trade means that there will always be high expectations over Maluach, but the team looks very smart right now, bringing in Mark Williams to ease the pressure off of Maluach to produce from day one.

It looks like Maluach’s defense is going to be good from the get-go. He has incredible timing when protecting the rim, although he does need to toughen up on the glass, as there were times where he was being pushed out of position, even by smaller players.

But it’s Maluach offense that will need time to come together. He’s a bit ground-bound in the paint, and he’s not the most nimble of feet (yet). This requires him to carve out some awkward angles to get his shot off, although he has the touch to capitalize on the shots he gets.

Maluach has to build more strength if he were to become the dominant paint presence the Suns believe he could be. His jumpshot is not yet very good, as he’s gone 2-8 from beyond the arc in the games he played in, and it might be best if he focuses first on what he does best (score in the paint and protect the rim) before expanding his range to beyond the three-point arc.

Oso Ighodaro will be coming for a Suns rotation spot

The Suns have a very crowded center rotation, but that doesn’t mean that Ighodaro will simply relinquish his spot without a fight. He did struggle in their most recent loss to the Kings, but other than that, he showed that he’s a much more forceful presence in the paint than Maluach is, and he at least seems to have his supporters among the Suns’ coaching staff.

Ighodaro was quite the active presence on the defensive end in the first two games of Summer League, recording eight stocks (six steals, two blocks) and 23 rebounds (11.5 boards per contest). He was thrust into a rotation role in Year 1, and he’s going to remain in the picture for next season as well.