BBNBA: Koby Brea's first NBA bucket, more weekly honors for former Wildcats

After Amari Williams scored his first career NBA bucket on Saturday, Koby Brea followed it up by doing the same on Sunday. We’re talking about that and more in KSR’s midweek BBNBA update.

Brea was fed some garbage time minutes late in the Phoenix Suns’ surprising 130-118 win over the San Antonio Spurs to close out the weekend. The former Kentucky sharpshooter saw just a hair over four minutes of action, finishing with four points and one assist for the Suns.

He shot 1-2 from the field, missing his lone three-point attempt, but he did find his way to the rim in transition for a layup to earn his first professional bucket in what was also his NBA debut. Brea hit a couple of free throws for good measure, too. Phoenix is already behind the 8-ball with a 3-5 record in the West, and Brea did not receive any playing time in Tuesday’s loss to Golden State, but it’s nice to see the second-round rookie getting some run early in the season. More playing time could be on the way if the Suns continue to fall behind in the standings, but expect him to slide down to the G League at some point.

Koby Brea's first NBA points pic.twitter.com/agNcI2G0Rm

— Cage (@ridiculouscage) November 3, 2025

Speaking of the Suns, the poor start hasn’t been due to a lack of production from the franchise player, Devin Booker. Through eight games played, Booker is averaging 31 points, seven assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per outing. He’s shooting the ball incredibly well: 51.6 percent from the field, 43.1 percent from deep, and 86.1 percent from the line.

The issue? Everything around him. Grayson Allen and Dillon Brooks are behind Booker as Phoenix’s top players — that is not a good thing. But Booker is putting up incredible stats (numbers that only Steph Curry can claim) and will likely make his fifth All-Star Game if he keeps it up. Unfortunately, making the playoffs already feels like a pipe dream.

Weekly honors for SGA and Maxey

Not one, but two former Kentucky guards were named the league’s Players of the Week on Monday.

One name will be of no surprise. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP for the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, was tabbed as the Western Conference Player of the Week. Across four games last week — all wins for OKC — he averaged 28.8 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per contest on shooting splits of 52.4/31.6/100. With his 30-point outing on Tuesday, Gilgeous-Alexander has now passed Oscar Robertson for the third-longest consecutive games (80) with at least 20 points. Wilt Chamberlain holds the all-time mark with 126 straight games of 20-plus points.

The Thunder currently sit alone as the only undefeated team in the NBA at 8-0. OKC is down some key players due to injury, too. SGA is playing at an MVP-level once again.

Name number two might shock you, though. Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers is off to an unreal start in 2025-26. He was recognized as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading Philly to a 3-1 mark. Maxey averaged 33.5 points, 9.8 assists, and 5.3 rebounds in 43 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 46.7/39.5/89.2. Through seven total games played the season, Maxey leads the entire NBA in points per game (34.4), minutes per game (42), field goal attempts per game (23.1), and three-pointers made per game (4.6).

Forget an All-Star nod this season, Maxey is gunning for his first All-NBA recognition. He has the 76ers sitting at 5-2 and in second place in the East. And oh yeah, he just turned 25 years old on Tuesday.

Bam Adebayo: Heating up Miami’s offense

After a down season offensively in 2024-25, Bam Adebayo is back to making a massive impact on that end of the floor. But not in a way that was expected. Adebayo took the most threes of his career by far last season. It didn’t go well for him or the Miami Heat. But head coach Erik Spoelstra has changed his offense to highlight Adebayo even more from the perimeter. So far, the early returns have been impressive.

Through seven games, Adebayo is averaging a career-high 22.4 points per outing to go along with 9.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 33.6 minutes. His overall field goal percentage is down to a career-low of 46.1 percent, but he’s taking and making more shots than ever before. Adebayo is chucking up 6.4 three-pointers per game, hitting them at a 35.6 percent clip. As an All-Star a couple of seasons ago in 2023-24, he shot just 42 threes for the entire season. He’s already attempted 45 in seven games in 2025-26.

Adebayo is anchoring the Heat’s third-ranked defense while helping fuel an unexpectedly exciting offense. Miami is 4-3 on the season, including wins over the Knicks and Clippers. Tyler Herro is still on the mend, too. At this rate, Adebayo is well on his way to a fourth All-Star Game and sixth All-Defensive Team honor.

Good morning: Bam Adebayo currently leads the NBA in PnR switches (34) and the Heat are allowing roughly 64 points per 100 possessions on those trips.

Remains a monster for the [checks note] third-ranked Heat defense. pic.twitter.com/fjHhcJ3YPI

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) November 4, 2025

Other BBNBA notes…

• Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle posted his 15th career triple-double with his performance on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets. Randle went for 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 125-109 win for the Wolves, which holds a 4-3 record. Sticking with Minnesota, second-year guard Rob Dillingham remains in the dog house. He’s only seen 65 minutes of action through five games and didn’t even attempt his first three-pointer of the season until Tuesday night, which he missed.
• Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis will miss his third straight game on Wednesday night due to a left calf strain. He hasn’t played since Oct. 29, when he had to leave a game early after going down with the injury. It’s a shame, too, as Davis was averaging 21.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game on 52.1 percent shooting through the Mavericks’ first four games. He’s scheduled to be re-evaluated at some point this week.