Brea is a special shooter; any situation, from any spot, Brea can splash it
When the Phoenix Suns traded up for the No. 41 pick in the second round, many of us thought that they would target a playmaking, ball-handling guard. Instead, they drafted one of, if not the best, shooters in the NBA Draft, Koby Brea.
Born Nov. 11, 2002, Brea comes from a basketball family. His father, Stephen, played professionally in the Dominican Republic, and his godfather, Felipe Lopez, was a first-round pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. Brea is from Washington Heights, New York, and comes to Phoenix with five years of college experience at Dayton for four years and Kentucky last season.
Brea was a late bloomer in high school and did not play varsity basketball until his junior year at Monsignor Scanlan High School. In his two seasons on the varsity team, he flourished and earned all-state honors. An under-the-radar recruit, Brea ended up going to Dayton and started contributing almost immediately.
In his sophomore and senior seasons at Dayton, he earned Atlantic-10 Sixth Man of the Year Awards because of his prolific shooting. After the 2023-24 season, Brea entered the transfer portal with an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19 and played his final season at Kentucky.
While at Kentucky, he was the second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game on 43.5% from 3. The Wildcats were one of the most prolific shooting teams in the country and made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. In the round of 32 against Illinois, Brea scored 23 points on 10-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from 2 attacking smaller players.
Brea comes to Phoenix with very few NBA traits, except for one: shooting.
Brea is a special shooter; in any situation, from any spot, he can splash it.
Brea can run off-ball screens and fire quickly. He can come off dribble handoffs with the ball and create space with the dribble. In ball screens, he can read the defense and create enough space with the dribble to get off 3s. If he is spotting up… start running back on defense. At Kentucky, with all the injuries the primary ball handlers, Brea stepped out of his comfort zone and even found ways to get off 3s in isolation situations with efficiency. Because of his simple, smooth mechanics, Brea’s quick release and ability to stay on balance make him a lethal shooter in any situation. Bottom line, Brea can splash the rock.
The concerns are just about everything else.
Brea, at 6-foot-5, only has a 6-foot-5 wingspan, a slow first step, and is not quick laterally on defense. His role in the NBA will be simple: play against other teams’ second units and get up as many 3s as possible and hide on defense.
Brea is smart enough defensively to be in the right places, but will never be a point of attack defender or a disruptive defender, which will keep him relegated to the bench unit and hyper-specific end-of-game scenarios when the Suns need a 3. He does not handle the ball at an elite level or create many looks for others with the ball in his hands; everything will have to be set up for him.
Because of these weaknesses, Brea has developed an underrated strength, a low-risk playing style. Brea does not turn the ball and does not gamble defensively; he does not make mistakes that kill possessions, something the Suns desperately need.
Brea’s expected role this season will be to replace Grayson Allen, another exceptional marksman from 3, who will likely be traded this offseason. If Brea continues to shoot the ball at an elite level in the NBA, like he did in college, it will be hard for Phoenix not to play him right away.
If everything breaks right for Brea, he can become a Luke Kennard-esque role player and have a long NBA career. If his shooting regresses at all or he becomes too much of a liability on defense, he won’t have a long NBA career.
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