How Suns Rookies Took Advantage of Rare Opportunity

The Suns relied heavily on their rookies for the first time all season against Portland.

Feb 22, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns center Khaman Maluach (10) celebrates a three point shot against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PHOENIX -- With all the injuries the Phoenix Suns are dealing with, they had to think of some creative lineups to put on the floor last night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Although the Suns scored a season-low 77 points against Portland and lost by 13 points with Devin Booker (hip), Dillon Brooks (hand), Grayson Allen (knee/ankle) and Jordan Goodwin (calf) among several players out, their rookies got a chance for their biggest impact minutes of the season.

No. 31 overall pick Rasheer Fleming, who has seen the most run of the rookies this season, was the first sub off the bench in the game despite not being in the rotation as of late.

Then, the Suns went with a double big lineup in the second quarter, putting in No. 10 overall pick Khaman Maluach next to Oso Ighodaro.

Fleming ended with six points (2-4 3PT) and two steals in 21 minutes, while Maluach, who has not played outside of garbage time since very early in the season, recorded seven points (3-5 FG) and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.

"You never know what's (going to happen) and when the team will need you," Maluach said postgame (h/t Duane Rankin). "It's just being mentally ready and staying warm."

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It was tough to say how Phoenix's rotations would shape out with so many players sidelined, but the Suns could need their rookies moving forward as well with the injuries they have.

Fleming, specifically, could be getting much more playing time with Brooks out four-to-six weeks with his broken left hand.

"Just be ready for the unexpected," Fleming said postgame. "I am not sure how many minutes I played but it seemed like I had a decent amount of playing time and made some solid improvements. Just be ready and staying comfortable when I am on the floor."

Maluach ended up leading the team with a plus-6 plus/minus, while Fleming was a plus-2 in his minutes.

With the versatility Maluach presents of being able to stretch the floor on offense, which led to his first career 3-point make early in the game, the Suns could choose to use the double big lineup when needed with him and Ighodaro, who has a lot of switching versatility defensively, together going forward.

Suns coach Jordan Ott shared his thoughts postgame on the lineup with Maluach and Ighodaro.

"Ideally, when we have two bigs playing together ... we should be pretty good at the rim," Ott said. "(Portland) is a driving team, so we knew we had to try to take care of the paint, of the rim and then hopefully clean the glass.

"But yeah, that's the idea, when you play two bigs, it's usually more defensive. Even (Saturday night against Orlando), we kind of talked about it a little bit, we didn't get to it. Just the ability to get there defensively and then try to score in transition or on the offensive glass."

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Phoenix now sits at 33-25 on the season with the loss and remains two games back of the sixth seed in the West, which could be a tall task to jump up to if the injury problems persist.

However, this could be a great opportunity for Fleming and Maluach to show exactly what they can bring to the table and help the Suns create a new wrinkle as they look to overcome their injuries.

The Suns next play tomorrow night against the Boston Celtics and will likely continue to be without at least Booker, Brooks and Goodwin.