Matt Ishbia's Phoenix Suns are going all-in on a championship core built around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Those three max-level players leave little money to be spread around the rest of the roster before huge punitive luxury tax hits start to eat into the operating budget.

The front office knows the Suns have to hit on some NBA Draft gems to have a chance. Thankfully, rookies Ryan Dunn (Virginia) and Oso Ighodaro (Marquette) have been impressing Beal during the Suns training camp.

“If you were going to ask who I enjoyed being around (to start Suns' training camp), I was going to say the rookies,” Beal began. “Like, because they're just so attentive to detail. They want to learn. They want to earn their keep here. They ask me, Book, and KD questions throughout the day. They are just constantly asking questions, constantly picking our brains about stuff.”

“I'm excited for them because we are going to instill a lot in them,” Beal added. “They're going to have a really good opportunity to provide some good stuff for us. So I would say they've been really good for us so far. For young fellas, rookies, they've been light years ahead of most rookies coming in.”

The rookies will not have much to do on offense, honestly. Beal, Durant, and Booker have that covered. Rebounding and defense will keep the first-year additions in the rotations. The rest of the scouting report will be rounded out during the regular season.

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Scouting report on Suns' rookies

Suns guard Bradley Beal (center) laughs as he jokes at the end of practice during practice at the Verizon 5G Performance Center in Phoenix on Oct. 1, 2024.
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The scouting report on the rookies are pretty straightforward as far as their roles with the Suns are concerned. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor called Dunn the best defender in the 2024 NBA Draft. The 21-year-old averaged just over eight points a game for Virginia though, mainly due to a lack of outside shooting. The Suns are just hoping Dunn can help take the pressure off of the All-NBA stars on the ugly end of the court. That dirty work is how Dunn works towards his next life-changing money deal.

Ighodaro could be the Deandre Ayton replacement the Suns need for another NBA Finals run.  Ighodaro's near 7-foot wingspan will go a long way to helping deter opponents at the rim. Then it's all about the transition run-out finishing, which Ighodaro looks to relish while on the court.

That's some good signs on some raw rookies. It's easy to see how and why they'd be impressing Beal and the rest of the Suns during training camp.