{"id":656646,"date":"2026-03-13T20:40:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/656646\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T20:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:40:24","slug":"jordan-otts-rookie-heavy-lineup-adds-layer-to-suns-already-stout-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/656646\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Ott’s rookie-heavy lineup adds layer to Suns already stout defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not all that common for rookies to make a team better defensively. Insert Phoenix Suns<\/a> first-year players Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach<\/a>. They’ve both been highly favored and touted by head coach Jordan Ott.<\/p>\n

He’s seen the potential ever since the Suns selected Maluach and Fleming<\/a> in the 2025 NBA Draft. Both have the defensive capabilities to switch, play the pick-and-roll, and play bigger than their respective sizes.<\/p>\n

As a result, it’s allowed Ott to experiment and get creative. The offensive limitations might be there, but the defensive promise far exceeds any shortcomings on the other end.<\/p>\n

For instance, he had a lineup with Royce O’Neale, Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, Jalen Green, and Fleming in at the small-ball five.<\/p>\n

It’s an extremely small sample size<\/a>, but that lineup posted an offensive rating of 141.7 and a defensive rating of 100 in only six minutes.<\/p>\n

Will this lineup garner a net rating of 41.7 every time they’re on the court? Likely not, but it’s a good metric to get a gauge on and see what the potential could be.<\/p>\n

Fleming’s 7’5 wingspan and 9’1 standing reach make him the ideal small-ball center. Not to mention, his physicality and athleticism are way beyond those of a typical rookie.<\/p>\n

Again, the number is small, but it feels as if Ott is optimistic about moving forward with it<\/a>, depending on the scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth games (vs Milwaukee and Indiana), it’s felt pretty good,\u201d Ott explained via AZCentral’s Duane Rankin on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cWhen exactly to go to it. Facing stretch bigs again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome challenges that we have guarding those guys with our bigs are new. Just new situations that (rookie 7-footer Khaman Maluach) has been in. Thought we were able to respond and react in-game to try to find another way to get a road win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rasheer Fleming + Khaman Maluach = Jordan Ott’s defensive combo for Suns\"Phoenix\u00a9 Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Again, Fleming and Maluach, being rookies and garnering minutes, might have some skeptics, but they’ve earned their fair share of respect from their teammates and coaches.<\/p>\n

Relentless work, playing with the G-League Valley Suns, and being continuously ready are all parts of the process that helped them get here. After all, the Suns trusted Fleming and Maluach<\/a> by trading away Nigel Hayes-Davis and Nick Richards at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

While part of it was for salary cap purposes, it shows the trust the organization and the team as a whole have in the two rookies.<\/p>\n

For the former St. Joe’s forward, he has all the makings of an elite defensive player. As mentioned earlier, the physical gifts, along with his mentality, have intrigued many.<\/p>\n

Even Suns teammates Grayson Allen and Collin Gillespie shared that Fleming has such a high ceiling<\/a>. Devin Booker mentioned Maluach having a high basketball acumen for a center, and for someone as young as he is.<\/p>\n

With where we are in the season, a contending team usually doesn’t aim to put two rookies in for a substantial amount of time. Ott sees so much offensive and defensive potential, though.<\/p>\n

The trust is growing with teammates, lineup experiments continue to go well, and it feels like Maluach and Fleming are playing free.<\/p>\n

Phoenix’s defensive rating already stands at the tenth-best in the association. An influx of lineup combinations could’ve disrupted a set five-man unit. However, it might’ve been a blessing in disguise because of the opportunity Fleming and Maluach both have.<\/p>\n

Meaningful minutes and impacting the game on the defensive end with stout rim protection, perimeter defense, and never-ending hustle is exactly what Ott was so high on\u2013 and it’s paying dividends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not all that common for rookies to make a team better defensively. Insert Phoenix Suns first-year players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,3991,958,10369,6,2065,472,4045,2144,604],"class_list":["post-656646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix-suns","tag-basketball","tag-jordan-ott","tag-khaman-maluach","tag-mini-editorials","tag-nba","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-phoenixsuns","tag-reporting","tag-suns"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116223809278398802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}