news-engine

The Phoenix Suns traded up into the first round of the 2026 NBA draft to select local product and University of Arizona star Koa Peat with the 30th overall pick. As he adjusts to the professional ranks, it may actually behoove the Suns to adopt elements of the Wildcats’ playstyle that Peat embraced under head coach Tommy Lloyd, involving relying less on 3-pointers. Suns should consider bucking modern basketball trends like Wildcats In addition to Peat — a prototypical power forward whose strength lies in interior offense versus spreading the floor with a 3-point shot — the Suns opted to trade two of their best outside shooters from a season ago in Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale to land Michigan State product Miles Bridges. Like Peat, Bridges is not known as a 3-point marksman. He’s a career 33.8 percent shooter from beyond the arc and does the bulk of his damage from within 10 feet of the basket. Suns GM Brian Gregory helped offset the loss of those two elite outside shooters by signing Luke Kennard in free agency. Kennard was the best 3-point shooter in the NBA in terms of percentage a season ago at 47.8 percent, but he’s also a low-volume shooter. The Duke product put up just 3.1 attempts per game from long range a season ago. That ranked well outside of the top 100 players by average 3-point attempts. With the personnel changes Phoenix has undergone season-to-season, it may actually be in the Suns’ best interest to buck modern NBA trends by shooting fewer 3-pointers and playing the game much like Arizona did with Peat en route to a run to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. Tommy Lloyd’s crew attempted just 16 shots from 3-point range per game. That was by far the fewest in the Big 12 conference. In fact, the next-lowest team in the conference in 3-point attempts was the Kansas Jayhawks, who were still hoisting more than 20 treys on average. Instead of joining the analytics crowd enamored with the 3-point look, Lloyd leaned into his players’ strengths by playing a punishing, interior brand of basketball while not sacrificing pace. Peat was often the catalyst, getting to his spots inside the 3-point arc to either attack the rim or find opportunities for open mid-range looks. “Listen, I'm playing a brand of basketball that I think is effective for how our team's built,” Lloyd said of his Wildcats following an NCAA Tournament win over Arkansas. “What's cool about coaching and cool about the game of basketball is there are so many different ways to play.” The Wildcats attempted just eight 3-pointers in the win (making five of them), but Lloyd made it clear that’s not necessarily by design. The team just embraced what they did well. “I don't tell our guys not to shoot 3s. I didn't come out and say, 'Hey, today, let's go single-digit 3s and we'll feel good about that,'” the Wildcats’ coach said. “We want to take the best shot available.” ‘Best shot available’ should be Suns’ strategy regardless of threes That’s a style that also benefits Bridges and even face of the franchise Devin Booker. Book shot just 33 percent from beyond the arc last season, his worst shooting percentage from deep since the 2018-19 campaign. He entered the All-Star break shooting a lowly 31.1 percent from downtown and heated up in the second half to finish with a more respectable figure. But what if the Suns aim to limit those attempts this coming season? Why shouldn’t Booker hunt mid-range shots more often? After all, Booker shot 47.7 percent on those looks beyond 16 feet and 48.7 percent on shots 10-to-16 feet from the hoop. A near 50 percent clip from mid-range is certainly preferable for Book over 3-pointers he cashed roughly a third of the time. For him, “best shot available” is almost always going to be the middy — a lost art in the modern NBA. To be clear, guys like Collin Gillespie — who just set a new franchise record for made threes in a season — and Kennard should definitely keep shooting triples. But with the new-look personnel on the roster, playing more like the Wildcats isn’t a bad shout for a Suns team without a myriad of outside snipers. Lloyd and his Wildcats proved you can still win basketball games without relying on the 3-point shot. The Suns shouldn’t abandon it altogether, but hunting 2-point looks with Booker, Bridges, Peat, Mark Williams, and more could ultimately prove a more efficient offensive strategy.