Koby Brea

Shooting Guard, 6’6”, 202 pounds, 22 years old, rookie out of the University of Kentucky

The Suns were very active the two nights of this past NBA draft as they tried to fill out this new roster. In the two days, they made multiple trades that landed them several prospects, one of them being Koby Brea.

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Brea was selected with the 41st overall pick in the NBA draft after the Suns had acquired it from the Golden State Warriors. See, the Suns had multiple second-round picks and wanted to move up as high as possible, and luckily, they got to the first pick on day two. By doing that, they then still had this leftover pick and used it to take the best three-pointer scorer in the class with Brea.

College Career Recap

Brea played 5 seasons in college with two different teams. He spent his first four years at the University of Dayton, where he only started three games his first year. He continued to be someone who barely started for their team and then really turned it up in his last year there, where he shot 49.8% from 3 and 51.2% from the field. This gave him the go-ahead to enter the transfer portal and land at Kentucky with new head coach Mark Pope.

In his only year at Kentucky, the guard put on a show once again proving he was the best three-point scorer in college basketball this season. He was one of the better players on the team and hit big-time shots when the team needed them most. He scored 419 total points last year, which was his highest in his collegiate career, and on a better team against better opponents, shot 43.5% from three.

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His biggest game of the season had to come in the March Madness tournament, where he helped lead the Kentucky Wildcats to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since the 2018-19 season. As a three seed, they took down a solid Illinois team 84-75, where Brea led the team with 23 points, six rebounds, and an assist.

Contract Details

Brea and the Suns agreed to a one-year two-way deal for the upcoming season. This allows Brea to play up to 50 games for the Phoenix Suns while also developing and growing with the Valley Suns. The 22-year-old guard is expected to be one of the better players for the G-League affiliate after a solid Summer League. If he can continue to thrive there, depending on how the team looks, it could present him with an opportunity to earn a standard deal before the season’s end.

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Strengths & Weaknesses

As we have discussed numerous times, there is a distinct strength to Brea’s game. It is his three-point shot and shot-making ability. The guard is not only lethal from beyond the arc but also has a killer mid-range game similar to Devin Booker. This is going to be key for Brea as he can utilize Booker as a leader and someone to mirror how he wants to attack opposing defenses. His frame of 6’6” also allows him to be used on the wing in some potential lineups as an extra sniper on the offensive end. One in the right lineup could be hidden and utilized to rain down from three-point range.

With his strengths, there are some weaknesses to his game, and that would be on the defensive end. He is a liability on that side, so having him play with lengthy defenders is the key to having him thrive. Luckily, the Suns have drafted that position in the last two classes with Ryan Dunn and Rasheer Fleming. With those two developing alongside Brea, this could make Brea more viable on the side of the ball he specializes in.

One Key Factor

The key to look at with Brea was alluded to earlier: will he earn the standard deal by the end of the season? Truly, I think that he is going to be the best player on the Valley Suns and prove to be someone who is ready for the parent club. Similar to guard Collin Gillespie from last season, if injuries do occur or he just proves in practice, we could see him get some burn while on this two-way deal. If that case persists, depending on the record and direction of this team, by the trade deadline, we could see what path is ultimately better, and that could show for better or worse for Brea.

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If the Suns look towards the bottom, they may sell off some of these veteran role pieces and run the young guns, trying to develop them into their rotation for the future. If the Suns are better than we anticipate, we could see Brea still held on that two-way until the following season.

Prediction Time

With Brea being on the two-way contract I am going to take that into my evaluation of his stats. If he were to get more time or a standard deal by the end of the season, his numbers could defintely be higher.

Stat Prediction: 42 Games 4.2 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 0.3 BPG, 0.5 SPG on 44/41/87 shooting splits

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, I’d love to see Brea on the main squad as early as possible. Earlier in the offseason, I had written an article comparing Brea to another player on this roster, and I genuinely think he can take that role if the team allows him to.

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That being said, if the Suns do present them to be in the position of near the bottom of the West, I do not see the harm in giving him that opportunity if he is succeeding in his more minor role. I expect him to be someone who gets along with Devin Booker and has him as a mentor going into the year, which makes me even more confident in his role here.