The Phoenix Suns are making moves in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft. An NBA Insider claims that they are moving up in order to draft a popular Philadelphia 76ers target.
Rasheer Fleming out of St. Joseph’s is a name that many Sixers fans were excited to see still on the board at the conclusion of Wednesday night’s portion of the draft. With the Sixers set to go on the clock with the 35th pick, it seemed there was a chance they could be in play for the Camden native.
Barring any shocking changes, that will no longer be the case.
“The Suns' war room right now is eyeing St. Joseph's big man Rasheer Fleming at No. 31,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported shortly after the deal was announced.
“[The Suns are] finalizing their research and scouting before making their selection at 8 pm ET on ESPN.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves are trading the first pick in tonight’s NBA draft -- No. 31 -- to the Phoenix Suns for No. 36 and two future second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. Suns continue rebuild by moving up to 31 and 41 in draft -- send out 36, 52, 59 and two future seconds.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 26, 2025
The Minnesota Timberwolves were the owners of the 31st pick this season. Roughly an hour before round two was set to begin, the Timberwolves traded the pick to Phoenix in exchange for No. 36 and two future second-round picks.
Fleming is entering the NBA after his third season in the NCAA. He made 101 appearances at the college level, picking up 87 starts. The forward averaged 14 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal during his junior season with the Hawks. He made 53 percent of his shots from the field, and knocked down 39 percent of his threes on 4.5 attempts per game.
According to ESPN’s rankings, Fleming was the second-best player available heading into Thursday night. Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud is listed first. Noah Penda, AdouThiero, Ryan Kalbrenner, Jamir Watkins, Alex Toohey, and Chaz Lanier, are a few other candidates who could be in play for Philadelphia, based on the rankings.
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