Suns Make 2 More Trades Ahead of Second Round of NBA Draft

In round one of the NBA Draft last night, the Suns selected Duke center Khaman Maluach, who has been heralded as one of the best picks so far, with the No. 10 overall pick, which was originally acquired as part of the Kevin Durant trade from the Houston Rockets on Sunday.

Mere minutes after selecting Maluach, Phoenix packaged the No. 29 pick, a future unfavorable 2029 first-round pick and Vasa Micic to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams.

These most recent trades with the Warriors and Timberwolves mark Phoenix's third and fourth trade during the draft and fifth this week following the Durant deal, which also saw the Suns acquire five second-round picks that they have now packaged away in these deals.

After the moves on the first night of the draft, the Suns have a need at wing and point guard to pair with their bigs.

If Fleming is the choice, he will be a prominent wing edition who can also play the 5 at 6-foot-9. Several mock drafts had Fleming going first in the second round after last night.

ESPN' Jonathan Givony was one of those and wrote of Fleming.

"Strengths: Fleming is a toolsy forward with impressive highlights who improved leaps and bounds over the past three years, developing into a highly efficient inside-out scorer to complement his massive 7-foot-5 wingspan, which gives him potential to grow into on defense.

"Weaknesses: His feel for the game is a major question, as he does not process the game quickly on either end of the floor. He sometimes struggles to make basic passes and is highly prone to mistakes off the ball defensively.

"The verdict: There's a premium on length, shooting and potential defensive versatility in the NBA, and Fleming could bring all three to a team with the patience to develop his awareness and technique defensively while the game hopefully slows down for him offensively. He struggled badly late in the season, but his relative youth and trajectory at St. Joseph's leaves room for optimism about his potential."

The 20-year-old Fleming would join solid defensive wings in Dillon Brooks and Ryan Dunn on the Suns to all of a sudden create very impressive length and defensive versatility that Phoenix lacked last season.

As of now, the Suns would then have another pick from the Warriors at 41 to try to upgrade their youth even more.