Phoenix Suns down a center with Alan Williams injury

Alan Williams, Phoenix Suns (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Alan Williams, Phoenix Suns (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The injury bug has decided to latch itself to the Phoenix Suns this offseason. Most recently, Alan Williams is yet another Sun to go down with injury.

This offseason has been rough for the Phoenix Suns from an injury stand point. First Brandon Knight goes down with an ACL tear, then rookie Davon Reed went down with a meniscus tear. Now it appears that the injury bug has attached onto one of the Suns’ big men. According to ESPN, Alan Williams has partial torn meniscus and injury occurred when he landed on Marquese Chriss‘ foot when they were working out. Losing Williams is a big blow to the Suns this upcoming season.

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Besides being the hometown guy that inspired teammates, Williams was a valuable part of the Suns rotation. Earlier this summer, I predicted that Williams would be the primary backup center for Tyson Chandler. Now with this injury, that responsibility will fall on Alex Len. It’s a good thing that Len has already planned to sign his qualifying offer before this injury or the Suns would be in a trickier situation. Not sharing time with Williams will allow Len to show off his skill more for potential suitors next offseason. Fans should not be surprised to see Dragan Bender playing more center this upcoming season as well.

Even with the two able bodies of Len and Bender ready to play center, the Suns will still miss the grit that Williams brought.

Per Game Table
SeasonAgeTmPosGMPFG%2P%eFG%FT%ORBDRBTRBASTSTLBLKTOVPFPTS
2015-1623PHOPF106.8.417.417.417.6431.42.43.80.50.40.50.61.52.9
2016-1724PHOC4715.1.517.519.517.6252.04.26.20.50.60.70.82.77.4
Career5713.6.509.510.509.6271.93.95.80.50.50.60.82.56.6

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/23/2017.

Williams was a more than effective reserve center for the Suns during his tenure. The Suns rewarded his hard work with a contract worth about $17 million over three years.

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This injury to Williams hurts the team and fans going into training camp. Williams will definitely be missed this upcoming season, but the Suns have the depth at center to recover from his injury.