Sbn Reacts: One Hot Shooting Night Hasn’t Erased Concerns About Koby Brea

After a horrific start to NBA Summer League, including shooting 1-of-10 against the New Orleans Pelicans, it looked like Phoenix Suns two-way guard Koby Brea turned a corner against the Milwaukee Bucks when he hit 6 threes on 12 attempts in the team’s 95-88 win on Monday. Fans seemed happy (and relieved) for him.

In the next game against the Detroit Pistons, Brea’s struggles returned. Despite the win, he shot just five times and scored five points on 33% shooting from the field in 26 minutes.

The stat line for Brea through four games in Las Vegas? 7.8 points on 27/29/75 splits with 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 27.7 minutes played. He has sported an offensive rating of 84.4.

Known for his shooting prowess and possessing one of the regular-season roster’s three two-way contract spots, the 2025 second-rounder who spent time at Kentucky and Dayton in college is one of the focal points of the team’s Summer League roster, which is why fans have been paying close attention to his performance and are split on how concerned they are with him.

Half of the polled fanbase being nervous about Brea does not surprise me. Being retained on a two-way deal with a roster that mostly remained the same from a season ago, turnover is needed for the team to once again surpass its projected win total, and any player who is on the team not demonstrating an ability to help the squad could hinder that. Phoenix also has a lot of guards, including the recent two-way signing Pat Spencer.

While he shot 43% from deep last season, he took just 30 threes in his 12 games played, and more than 50% of them came in games 81 and 82 of the regular season, when Phoenix and their opponents were preparing for the postseason and were against lower-level competition. So while the percentages were strong, they are heavily skewed from just two of his 12 games.

When a player is given ample opportunities after a season with an organization, it is ideal for them to show signs of improvement in the Summer League and demonstrate that they are not meant to play more than a handful of games. The team shut down Koa Peat, Rasheer Fleming, and Khaman Maluach after the three showed strong performances in the team’s first four games. Brea has had just one good game.

He has another chance to prove himself in what could be the team’s last Summer League game of the season, but with 75% of his games him shooting under 34% from the field, it’s reasonable that half the fanbase is worried about Koby Brea’s play.