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How preparation, adjusting on the fly led to Suns landing Koa Peat The Phoenix Suns showed once again how planning, preparation and adjusting on the fly can lead to acquiring the player they want in the NBA Draft.
The Suns were able to land Arizona freshman Koa Peat in the first round June 23 after entering the draft with just the 47th overall pick in the second round.
The opportunity to bring Koa into our organization, onto our team, someone that we had targeted, and really felt good about and was hoping for the opportunity to bring them in, Suns general manager Brian Gregory said in a Zoom media call after the draft, June 24.
And when it presented itself, we were able to make the moves necessary to do that.
The Suns dealt their second-round selection and two future second-round picks in 2029 and 2033 to the New York Knicks for Peat.
The Knicks moved Sergio De Larrea, the 25th overall pick in the draft out of Valencia, Spain, to the Dallas Mavericks for Peat before dealing him to the Suns.
The Mavs took the 19-year-old with the final pick in the first round, 30th overall.
Going to be a great fit for us, Gregory continued.
We talk about the Suns DNA.
We talk about doing things the Suns way and when you have a kid like Koa coming in, you know there's just a great fit.
Brings everything that's important to us.
High character, highly talented.
Great competitor.
Great winner.
Peat won four state championships at Gilbert Perry and led Arizona to the 2026 Final Four as he won West Region most outstanding player in the NCAA Tournament.
I can go on and on, but the most important thing is when we look at what we want to constantly draft and bring into our organization, Koa Peat has all of it," Gregory added.
The Suns had Peat on their draft board, but they didnt bring him into the practice facility for a workout.
As they continued preparing for the draft and determining how the draft might unfold, the Suns decided to bring in Peat for a chat.
When we felt we had an opportunity, maybe there were some moves that could be made to get us in a position to draft him, we called him up through his agency, and tried to set up a time, said Gregory.
Peat is represented by Klutch Sports Group.
He's right down the street to come and spend half hour, 45 minutes, an hour with me and (Suns assistant general manager) Oronde Taliaferro, Gregory continued.
..
It wasn't an interview.
Showed him around a place and just spent time with him to get to know him, understand what his goals and objectives are and for the future.
Talk about his college experience at Arizona, which he loved.
He loved playing for Tommy (Lloyd).
Loved the team.
That was critical.
Peat's hometown is Chandler.
Then on Day 1, the Suns were prepared to acquire Peat if the opportunity presented itself.
A lot of activity, but you have to make some pre-decisions in terms of what you want to get done so you're able to move quickly, pivot if things happen, Gregory said.
Set thresholds for what you were looking for, what you were willing to do to get to those pivotal moments.
And I thought, again, we did a great job of that.
If you don't do your preparation and if you don't know these players inside and out prior to it, you can be caught in a tough spot.
Gregory praised the teams amateur scouting group and noted how the Suns brought in their pro scouting group to share how they feel players will project in the NBA.
Suns team owner Mat Ishbia arrived the week of the draft as the Suns geared up for it.
So we have a system in place that's highly organized and very, very detailed, Gregory continued.
And because of that, there's a comfort in what I call the chaos of that first night of the draft and I thought, again, our guys and our entire staff from our analytics to the scouts, to the people in the war room did a great job.
Gregory revealed the Suns were looking to move up even higher in the draft, but working the phones and monitoring the draft put them in position to make a move for Peat.
Looking at different situations in the draft, what assets would we be able to use and you have to have a threshold for what you would use going into it so you don't get caught up in the moment, Gregory said.
...We're on the phone, we're calling other teams, we're trying to set up situations.
We had a couple of situations where maybe we were going to get an earlier pick in the mid-20s and those kind of fall through and so now you got to pivot to figure out a way to get a pick in the first round.
And luckily, we were able to do it.
The window of opportunity to land Peat presented itself right before the Cleveland Cavaliers used the 29th overall pick.
?Then you got to make a decision, but that decision was based on we knew exactly who we wanted, and if he was available, then we were going to pull the trigger on that, Gregory added.
And that's exactly what happened.
The Peat trade left the Suns without a draft pick going into the second round June 24.
They elected to stand down and not pull off any trades to acquire a Day 2 selection.
I mean, obviously we're never out of it, Gregory said.
If you've watched us the last few years, we're always aggressive at this time to find guys that not only fit, but that can make an impact either immediately or what we feel down the road in our progression in player development.
"We just didn't see anything or have an opportunity that we felt was good enough to make any moves,'' he said.
"A lot of activity during the day, exhausting, every opportunity, every option that we had, but at the same time, we felt very, very comfortable with where our roster is and with the young man (Peat) that we drafted (Tuesday), that we're in a very good place.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518.
Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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