Suns News: 2026 Offseason Edition

[Superbone]

That does look much better. He's keeping his shooting arm straight and following through.

[Superbone]

Shaq shot like 90% in practice from the ft line.

Says who? Sounds like an old wives' tale.

[Superbone]

If he hit 10 in a row, wouldn't they post that?

I'm glad he's working on the right stuff this summer, and I hope he comes back as a whole new shooter.

It would be funny if they showed 10 in a row with obvious cuts between each and every shot.

[Superbone]

And of course, the proof is in the pudding. We should find out in short order how much his FT shooting, and shooting in general, has improved or not.

[Mori Chu]

I laughed out loud at the video of Oso hitting one, ONE, free throw. His form does look good; I just think it's funny because usually these videos about how player so-and-so has been working hard on his 3-point shot or whatever, they show him in the gym hitting 7 in a row or whatever. This case it's like, look, we got a clip of him making one!!

[carey]

I laughed out loud at the video of Oso hitting one, ONE, free throw. His form does look good; I just think it's funny because usually these videos about how player so-and-so has been working hard on his 3-point shot or whatever, they show him in the gym hitting 7 in a row or whatever. This case it's like, look, we got a clip of him making one!!

I also laughed out loud for the same reason.

[Bucktastic365]

Lol, at y'all
How quickly we forget that at one time Ben Wallace was a Sun

[Bucktastic365]

The myopia is funny to me

[Bucktastic365]

Oso is WELL on the way to a lengthy NBA career.
Because he's not prime Ayton doesn't mean he deserves half of the shit he's given

[Superbone]

Lol, at y'all
How quickly we forget that at one time Ben Wallace was a Sun

I had to look it up. Ben Wallace never played a game for the Suns. I do remember Chris Dudley though.

[Superbone]

And AI tells me:

Lou Amundson holds the record for the lowest career free-throw percentage in Phoenix Suns history with at least 200 attempts, converting at just 49.4%.

Worst Free Throw Marks for the Suns

Lou Amundson: 49.4% career free-throw percentage (with 200+ attempts) and a franchise-low 44.2% during the 2008–09 season.

Larry Nance: Holds the lowest career free-throw percentage overall for players with extended primary tenures on the team, at 71.7% (though much higher than traditional brick-layers, reflecting the generally high-level shooting history of the franchise).

Other struggles: Modern rotation pieces and traditional centers like Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee have also battled severe inconsistencies from the charity stripe during their stints in the league.

[Superbone]

Dumbass Sarver never considered Doncic.

Former coach: Sarver’s Suns never had serious conversation about drafting Doncic over Ayton
When the Suns held the first pick in 2018, the Suns drafted Arizona Wildcat Deandre Ayton first overall, while Luka Doncic fell to third.

https://arizonasports.com/nba/phoenix-s ... uka-doncic

“Sarver turns to me and says, ‘Coach, what are we doing?’ I tell him, ‘We draft Luka and sign (Clint) Capela in free agency, and see if Atlanta wants to trade their pick,'” Kokoskov said. “He just says ‘OK,’ and leaves.”

[Split T]

Asking them on draft day is hilarious…we had clearly already locked in on Ayton long before then. I’d be more curious about the conversations after the draft lottery, but sounds like Igor wasn’t included in those.

[TOO]

Dumbass Sarver never considered Doncic.

Former coach: Sarver’s Suns never had serious conversation about drafting Doncic over Ayton
When the Suns held the first pick in 2018, the Suns drafted Arizona Wildcat Deandre Ayton first overall, while Luka Doncic fell to third.

https://arizonasports.com/nba/phoenix-s ... uka-doncic

“Sarver turns to me and says, ‘Coach, what are we doing?’ I tell him, ‘We draft Luka and sign (Clint) Capela in free agency, and see if Atlanta wants to trade their pick,'” Kokoskov said. “He just says ‘OK,’ and leaves.”

People think Ishbia is worse than this guy.

[Mori Chu]

I love how Kokoskov clearly gives no Fs and is happy to unload on Sarver, J Kidd, and anybody else he didn't like.

[JJ Slim]

And you guys complain about the current management's association with MSU...

[The Bobster]

Larry Nance: Holds the lowest career free-throw percentage overall for players with extended primary tenures on the team, at 71.7% (though much higher than traditional brick-layers, reflecting the generally high-level shooting history of the franchise).

Other struggles: Modern rotation pieces and traditional centers like Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee have also battled severe inconsistencies from the charity stripe during their stints in the league.

Nance went on to shoot 80.7% over his 7 years in Cleveland
Karl Malone shot 54.8%. and 75.7% his final 13 years.
Blake Griffin shot 61.1% his first three years and then 74.2% his final 10 years.

So there is precedent for bad FT shooters becoming acceptable ones.

[Mori Chu]

People think Ishbia is worse than this guy.

Ishbia is not as bad as Saver was. But just because Saver sucked ass doesn't mean Ishbia gets a few pass when he fucks something up.

[pickle]

I’m reading that we picked up Duop Reath.

[pickle]

ChatGPT:

Spoiler: show/hide

Yes. I’d characterize Reath as a modern stretch 5 who can look like a 4 offensively, but whose defensive mobility makes playing him as a 4 pretty difficult in the NBA.

A few things stand out from his actual NBA profile:

Offensively: quite a bit more than “a center who can shoot”

He’s a legitimate floor-spacing big. His NBA career 3P% is about 35.7%, but there have been seasons/stretches substantially better than that; in 2025–26 he shot 41.8% from three in limited minutes.

His useful offensive package is:

* Pick-and-pop: probably his clearest NBA skill.
* Catch-and-shoot: comfortable well beyond the arc.
* Good shooting mechanics for a 6’9” center.
* Can finish around the basket, but isn’t someone you want creating offense from the post.
* Reasonable passer, but not a hub.
* Can put the ball down occasionally, but he’s not a genuine face-up 4 who is going to attack closeouts repeatedly.
* He’s also a useful screener.

So if you put him at the 4 next to a traditional 5, you get a potentially nice offensive pairing: Reath pulls the opposing big away from the rim.

The problem is what happens when the other team has the ball.

Defensively: this is the big question mark

He’s not a particularly good defensive player, and I wouldn’t describe him as a mobile defensive big.

The biggest issue isn’t that he’s slow in an absolute sense. It’s that he occupies an awkward defensive middle ground:

He’s not big/strong enough to be a particularly imposing traditional 5, while also not mobile enough to comfortably defend NBA 4s.

That distinction is important.

At center, you can at least hide some of his limitations by having him play conventional drop-ish coverage, protect an area, and use his 6’9” frame. He’s not a great rim protector, but he has some shot-blocking history — for example, he averaged 1.48 blocks at LSU and has shown some ability to contest around the basket.

But put him at the 4 and suddenly his matchup is something like:

“Go stand 25 feet from the basket and keep up with a 6’7”–6’9” forward who can attack you off the dribble.”

That’s not really his game.

Even Portland fan/scouting discussion has repeatedly identified his lateral mobility as the problem with using him at the 4, with one particularly apt observation being that his offensive skill set resembles a stretch 4 but his defensive assignment would still be dictated by the fact that he’s essentially a 5.

Rebounding is another issue

This is probably underappreciated when looking at him as a 4.

He isn’t a particularly strong rebounder for his size. His NBA career average is only 2.6 RPG, despite playing primarily center.

So if you play him alongside another big, you really want the other big to do a lot of the dirty work:

Reath: spacing + shooting + some scoring
Other big: rebounding + rim protection + physical defense

That’s a workable theoretical pairing.

But if you put Reath at the 4 and expect him to provide meaningful defensive versatility and rebound adequately next to a center, you’ve probably created a lineup with a pretty obvious defensive weakness.

So could he play the 4?

In an offensive sense: absolutely.

As a regular NBA defensive 4: I don’t think so.

I’d actually describe him as:

A stretch 5 who can imitate a 4 on offense, rather than a stretch 4 who happens to be 6’9”.

That’s a meaningful distinction.

And I think your question is particularly relevant if you’re thinking about lineup construction rather than just his nominal position. If you put Reath next to an exceptionally mobile, switchable 5 who can protect the rim and clean up the glass, there is a potentially useful offensive combination there.

But if you’re asking, “Can I play Duop Reath at the 4 so that I can get two bigs on the floor without compromising my defense?” — that’s much harder to make work.

His shooting is good enough to make the idea tempting. His defensive mobility is what ultimately prevents it from being a straightforward solution.