Why Phoenix Suns fans are going to love Rasheer Fleming

Why Phoenix Suns fans are going to love Rasheer Fleming

a lot of buzz about the Suns draft and Wolf a lot of it really hit another level last night when they traded up to the first pick of the second round and were able to get Rashir Fleming out of St joseph’s joining us on the Arizona Sports Line right now is the founder and editor and chief of City of Basketball Love in Philly Josh Verlin a guy who has covered Rashir Fleming for a while now he can give us some insight on what to expect from him uh Josh thank you so much for the time how are you doing i’m great guys thank you so much for having me on
uh there’s a lot of excitement here i know there’s a lot of you know buzz around the league teams trying to move up to get Rashier last night the Suns were able to do it though and and and it has it’s really kind of sparked the fan base here what can you tell us about Rashier just in terms of of you know what he’s really good at that the Suns are getting yeah I think he’s just a a modern uh you know fourman with a chance to to be like a three four you know down the road i mean he’s a kid i I He’s a Camden New Jersey uh high school native i’ve seen him since his sophomore year in high school uh up through you know his three years at St joseph’s and I think the biggest thing that he brings is just versatility and good size and athleticism i mean he’s 69 he’s physical but he can really stretch the floor his his shooting has improved tremendously over the years he can put the ball on the floor now you know he he’s that kind of mismatch uh fourman that you like to see at the next level and I and I really like the steps that he’s taken to improve his game really since I’ve seen him play but especially since he got to St joseph
josh are you telling me you’ve seen this kid from high school as a sophomore yeah so I I I’ve been covering the Philadelphia area high school and college for 14 years so
Okay yeah a lot of the there quite a few of the players in the draft i mean Dylan Harper I saw as a freshman at Don Bosco Prep and yeah so yeah I’ve seen a lot of Rashier’s growth and development as a player i mean he’s grown couple inches during that time but really his his skill set has improved tremendously he was a you know sort of a high energy 67 forward when I first saw him and now he’s a really skilled like I said more of a fourman especially I think early on in the NBA but St joe’s was using him a little bit at the three and he was finding success especially you know as his college career went on at being able to play with the ball in his hand
josh do you have any idea how he has grown personally as a person i can’t I mean I’ve always had good great dealings with Rashier he’s he’s always been uh good to talk to he’s always had a good mind about the game uh he certainly has matured in college but I think that applies to you 95% of kids that we cover these days uh you know come a long way from the time you’re 18 to when you’re 21 but no I that’s never uh that’s never really been a concern of mine with him i thought he’s always had a mature head on his shoulders and um I think he really you know especially again his sophomore and junior year at St joseph’s um especially blossomed there yeah
would you call him a dog yes yes i mean I don’t I don’t know what you guys know about Camden New Jersey but that I mean that’s one of you know the bigname programs in the region uh you know DJ Wagner went there and and they’ve had you know and his father and they’ve just had talent and talent and talent over the decades i mean back to the 60s 70s 80s you know Camden is they call it the high for a reason um so you don’t play for Camden if you’re not a dog you know like that just that doesn’t compute yeah we’re talking to Josh Verlin founder and editor and chief of City of Basketball Love in Philly uh you know Josh sort of along those lines he’s Rashier had a couple good quotes even just after getting drafted last night uh stressing the importance to him of playing with effort he certainly looked like that sort of player as well at St joseph’s but what can you tell us about him just as a as a pure effort guy
oh yeah i mean that again you you don’t you’re not playing for Camden unless you’re diving on the ball you’re diving on the floor and you know throwing your body all over the place and given maximum effort and and certainly and that wasn’t that was never an issue for him at at St joseph’s he plays hard he plays physical uh you know he he doesn’t mind sticking his nose in there on the glass and you know blocking shots he he does all those things very well uh you know again because now he’s making the jump from the Atlantic 10 to the NBA i’m curious to see if he can still do all of those things at at a similar level um because now he won’t be the most physical player on the court in in some of the games which he which he was at the college level um but I certainly think that’s not a a worry with him and I expect he will continue to grow his physicality you know with a professional weightlifting program and all of that yeah josh what what was the best thing that Rashier did in college what was the best skill that he had i think it it is his versatility and I you know I know that’s kind of a a fallback answer but it was his ability to if he was put on a bigger slower guy to take them outside or to drive on them or if he was put on a smaller guy to bring him into the post and score around the bucket or you know to to be a passer to be a facilitator if if his shots weren’t there for him on any given night so I do think it’s that ability to be a a mismatch versatile guy and his outside shooting I mean his his shooting really came along he he you know when he gets his feet stepped he’s a pretty much a knockdown guy from all around the arc so that definitely is a strong point of his game no doubt but I think at the next level his versatility is going to help him get on the court earlier
josh the only thing I’ve I’ve really been able to find as far as a negative on him is is maybe as a as a ball handler but I mean the Suns aren’t going to need him to ever do that were there any weaknesses in his game even if they if he’s cleaned them up over the years that you’ve seen yeah I mean I think he’s not going to you know break a guy down one-on-one off off the dribble for sure when I was saying he had the ability to put the ball on the floor that was more you know off a rip or you know if there was a guy that was slow to rotate he could do a straight line drive to the bucket but yes he’s certainly not going to be you know uh crossing guys over and throwing down spin moves and trying to you know create for himself i don’t think it’s impossible to think that he could be decent at that a few years down the road but certainly at the moment that’s not something you’re going to look for him to do you’re going to look for him to you know spot up shoot threes uh re you know crash the glass defend at a high level bring that energy and then I think you’ll see the the skill things start to develop throughout you know years two and three
well Josh we really appreciate the insight man thank you so much for Thank you so much for having me on guys have a great one
all right you too that’s Josh Verlin founder and editor and chief of City of Basketball Love in Philly how about that he’s covered Rasheed Fleming since high school since sophomore year so he’s probably the guy that knows more about Rashier Fleming right now than anybody except Rashier Fleming himself
you know what’s amazing about it um this scouting report I was looking at impressive physical skills it says defensive versatility shooting ability is definitely there he’s long he’s got a high motor he’s got a 7 foot five wingspan think about that i mean that’s huge excelling in both on the ball and off the ball defense strong finisher an efficient shooter as well you know this is this is a I love to see dogs do well and this guy’s got a dog mentality and I think it’s one of the reasons why
that’s right Brian Gregory and the Phoenix ruined it with the song
they did i I think it’s one of the reasons why they identified this is our guy they want to build around this guy using him as well our culture is going to be about Rashir Fleming now I I’m saying that Basinonians is a gross exaggeration but they did target him didn’t they they identified him and they went after him you just you look at these guys they drafted and you know in a in a really if things play out this isn’t even like the the perfect world but you know a pretty good scenario these guys reach their ceilings you can see Malwatch being an anchor in in the middle for for a while kobe Bray is interesting i know they don’t need shooting guards but you know you heard Kevin Pelton when we asked him he said he might be the best shooter in this class and they got him at 41 uh you know if you have a guy that’s already an NBA three-point shooter and you’re able to draft him in the middle of the second round but Fleming in particular feels like the guy where if he plays to his potential is going to be the like you’re going to see Fleming jerseys at Suns games again if he plays to his potential i know right now he’s a second round pick but just the style of game he plays if he can play to his potential and stick around and be an impact player it seems like he’s going to be a fan favorite when he’s doing it
so I this is this hasn’t been fun the Suns haven’t been fun for a few months this is this is uh some actual genuine excitement around this city for them now
thanks for watching Wolf and Luke tap to see more and click the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports

The Phoenix Suns made three separate trades on Thursday to move up in the second round of the NBA Draft, helping them land St. Joe’s forward Rasheer Fleming, a top-20 player on their big board, and Koby Brea out of Kentucky. Wolf & Luke talk with Josh Verlin, founder & editor-in-chief of City of Basketball Love in Philadelphia, who has covered Fleming since the forward was a sophomore in high school to learn about the news Sun.

Rasheer Fleming picked by Timberwolves for Suns with No. 31 pick in NBA Draft: https://arizonasports.com/nba/phoenix-suns/rasheer-fleming-draft/3588390/

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