PHOENIX – Dillon Brooks has high hopes for Koa Peat. That is, if Peat can move past an issue common with rookies.

“He’s a little shy,” Brooks said, “so I got to break that wall.”

Peat is one of at least four young bigs whom the Suns veterans hope will break down walls and earn significant playing time this season. That has been a key theme for the team as it begins the preseason on Monday in Detroit.

The Suns finished 45-37 last season, earning an eighth-place finish in the Western Conference. After advancing past the play-in round, Oklahoma City swept them. Still, it was a major improvement from the previous season when Phoenix finished 10 games below .500 and missed the playoffs.

With the help of some veterans, the Suns are hoping to build on last season’s success by getting big contributions from their last two top draft picks and a crop of young bigs.

Heading into the preseason, Suns veterans have spoken highly of second-year center Khaman Maluach, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, second-year forward Rasheer Fleming and rookie forward Koa Peat, who won four state championships at Gilbert Perry High and helped Arizona to a Final Four before the Suns selected him 30th overall in the 2026 NBA draft.

The Suns obtained the draft rights to Maluach as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Houston. Fleming, who was originally drafted by Minnesota, was also part of that seven-team blockbuster.

Maluach saw few minutes on the court during his rookie year,  appearing in 46 games and starting only once. Fleming also started just one game and played in 55 as a rookie. But Maluach made big strides in the offseason, and the big man’s prospects look different this season.

Maluach averaged 19.5 points, 12.8 rebounds and had two blocks in the 2026 NBA Summer League, leading the league in rebounds averaged and earning second-team All-NBA Summer League honors.

Then came the news that center Mark Williams, whom the Suns had just re-signed and was the likely starter, would miss an indefinite amount of time after shoulder surgery.

“I pray for Mark,” Maluach said. “That’s my teammate. It’s an opportunity for me to step up, but I’m here to do whatever it takes, what the team needs. That’s how I see it and I’m going to do whatever it takes for us to be in a good spot.”

Williams’ absence gives Maluach a chance to break into the rotation and possibly the starting lineup, but he’ll be competing with former Phoenix Desert Vista High star Oso Ighodaro for the starting center spot. Ighodaro is entering his third year in the league.

“It puts more (pressure) on Oso and Man-Man (Maluach),” Suns coach Jordan Ott said. “These two guys are ultra-competitive, ultra-young. They understand that they have to play with a certain type of physicality. These two centers battle it every day.”

Despite the competition, Ighodaro said it’s all love between the players and that helps them push each other to be better.

“I love playing with him,” Ighodaro said. “Even in pickup when we’ll be on opposite teams, we’ll be talking to each other, helping each other, giving each other pointers. I feel like we both have a similar mindset in terms of the process and getting better. I’m grateful to have him as my teammate.”

During the offseason, Maluach reached out to Suns star Devin Booker and asked to work out with him to build a better connection.

“He has done this for a long time,” Maluach said. “He has a lot of tools or a lot of stuff that I can learn from him. As a young center, just being able to go to him and being able to ask him what I should do. He’s kind of like a coach himself and I get to learn a lot from him.”

Maluach isn’t the only player learning from vets. Peat, who averaged 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists during his only season at Arizona, has benefitted as well. The Suns pulled some strings during the draft to obtain him, sending the 47th pick in 2026, two future second-round picks and cash considerations to the New York Knicks for the 30th pick.

“We had Koa much higher in our rankings,” Suns general manager Brian Gregory said. “As the night progressed and it looked like there might be an opportunity for us to pull a couple of levers to be in position, the excitement grew and grew. Everywhere he’s been, all he’s done is win.”

Ighodaro isn’t surprised the Suns pursued his fellow Valley local.

“He doesn’t carry himself like a rookie,” Ighodaro said. “He wants to learn. He wants to get better. He’s an extremely good rebounder. He guards the ball defensively. If he continues to do so, he’ll impact winning.”

Suns guard Jalen Green said the veterans will shepherd Peat.

“He’s going to learn a lot from everybody on the team,” Green said. “Especially like Booker, Miles (Bridges). He’s got that bump. He’s playing mid-range. He’s got a mid-range shot. Can’t ask for nothing else, and just learning the whole summer.”

Fleming is another player hoping to break into the rotation.

“He continues to raise the floor by his work, his care and his understanding of who he is as a player,” Ott said of Fleming. “He has no idea where his ceiling is, nor do we. He has physical gifts that you cannot teach.”

Green also took note of Fleming’s work ethic.

“That’s who he is as a player,” Green said. “I don’t see anything else but him continuing to do that. I’ll see him be in the gym in the morning and come back at night. He loves the work and he’s putting that time in.”

Booker said the young players as a whole have displayed a work ethic and attention to detail that will serve them and the team well.

“They’re always the first in the gym,” Booker said. “They bring their youth and energy every day. They’re getting extra shots up. They all ask the right questions. I haven’t seen a bad rookie or a bad young fella in a while now.”

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.