The Phoenix Suns have done an excellent job of saving a season that only a couple of weeks ago looked to be dead and buried. Turning Josh Okogie into Nick Richards was one of the keys to making this happen, although sitting Jusuf Nurkic entirely and bringing Bradley Beal off the bench have also helped.
The Suns continue to see themselves linked with Jimmy Butler - but as that distracting saga continues - is he even worth it at this point? Yes it is fair to say that the schedule has been soft recently - but given this team was losing to opponents they should have beaten earlier in the campaign - sitting at 24-21 heading into February feels like a win.
One player won't be helping them win games anytime soon however.
Head coach Mike Budenholzer did an interesting thing in the recent win over the L.A. Clippers, and that was play an eight man rotation. Rookie Ryan Dunn missed the contest with an ankle sprain - and given he had replaced Beal in the starting lineup prior to going down - he surely would have gone nine deep if he could have. Mason Plumlee also had a fantastic and underrated game.
There was no room on the court for fellow first year player Oso Ighodaro, and we now know why. The organization officially sending him to their G League affiliate - The Valley Suns - in order to get some reps. This may seem harsh - Ighodaro had some nice games when the team was struggling through the Nurkic situation - but it makes sense for all parties involved.
OFFICIAL: We have assigned Oso Ighodaro to the @GLeagueSuns.
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 28, 2025
Firstly it signals that the Suns can no longer try and get Ighodaro the minutes he needs to improve, because all of a sudden an 8-2 record in the last 10 games means this team is back in the playoff mix. As we've seen with that aforementioned shortened rotation of coach Budenholzer, the time has now come to go all in and win as many games as possible.
Ighodaro was doing his best to help the team do this earlier in the season, but he was a second round pick in last year's draft. Unlike Dunn - a first rounder whose defensive upside was apparent right away - it is going to take time for the natural athleticism Ighodaro has to get in sync with the considerable defensive IQ you need to have to be a top-level big man in the league today.
That's not a shot at the player either - whereas to start the season the Suns needed his 16 minutes or so per night - which even included a pair of starts, that is no longer the case. The reason for this is of course Richards, who has been everything the franchise envisioned when they traded for him. A rotation of Richards and Plumlee just doesn't leave any time for Ighodaro to play.
The Suns occasionally using Kevin Durant at the five in certain situations makes his path to minutes even harder to come by. Better to get some game time while he can in the G League, and stay ready if any injuries do happen between now and the playoffs. Suns fans are understandably annoyed because they love the rookie's energy and enthusiasm, but this is the right call at this point.