Suns Rule Out Rasheer Fleming With Ankle Injury Ahead of Trail Blazers Matchup

The Phoenix Suns are officially down a rotation piece for Wednesday night, though you are forgiven if this one did not trigger a breaking news alert on your phone. Underdog NBA reported that power forward Rasheer Fleming has been ruled out against the Portland Trail Blazers with an ankle injury.

This is the exact type of late-afternoon injury update that sends daily fantasy sickos scrambling to adjust their bargain-bin lineups. While a sidelined backup power forward is not going to shift the moneyline at your local sportsbook, it does mean Phoenix has to shuffle the back end of their bench.

"Rasheer Fleming (ankle) listed out Wednesday. (Underdog NBA)"

Fleming has not exactly been stuffing the stat sheet in his sophomore campaign. Through two appearances this season, the 22-year-old is averaging 7.5 minutes, 1.5 rebounds, and a blistering 0.5 points per game.

For context, averaging half a point per game means you are statistically just as likely to score by having a stray pass bounce off your face and into the hoop. It is a steep drop from his rookie year, where he managed a slightly more robust 4.3 points in 12 minutes a night.

The Suns are already navigating the usual early-season grind, and losing a 6-foot-9, 240-pound body just chips away at their frontcourt depth. When you are facing a Western Conference schedule, every available foul to give matters.

Phoenix will have to lean on the rest of their reserves to eat up those spare minutes against Portland. As for Fleming, he will spend Wednesday in street clothes while waiting to see if that ankle heals up in time for the weekend slate.