Khaman Maluach is in the early lead to become the starting center for the Phoenix Suns this season, but slow and steady has been Oso Ighodaro's strategy since being drafted by the team. In order to push Maluach for the gig, he must improve his free throw shooting. He has been attempting to do just that in the early days of training camp.
Ighodaro must get to line more frequently and make shots to succeed
It is hard to tell which is worse: Ighodaro only getting to the charity stripe 1.4 times in 22 minutes of action each night last season, or converting on less than half (45.3 percent) of those efforts. The fact that he appeared in all 82 games makes these numbers look even worse, and they simply have to improve.
All-time great Isiah Thomas has been in the building already to give Ighodaro pointers, but he will need more than an improvement in his form to turn this into a real weapon. He must become better at tricking defenders into initiating contact to send him to the line in the first place.
Complicating matters further for Ighodaro were the 0.7 attempts Maluach attempted in less than nine minutes of action across 46 regular season games. He converted on 71 percent of those efforts, and backed that crisp shooting up with some made 3-pointers at Summer League.
A consistent jumper at any point on the court is a skill Ighodaro has never had, but the goal heading into year three, with Head Coach Jordan Ott confirming he will be given his chance to take the starting berth, has to be a minimum of two trips to the line each night. On top of that, making over half of his free throws once there has to be achieved.
Improved free throw shooting can give Ighodaro edge over Maluach
It is already clear that Maluach will be the better shooter from deep for the duration of his career, although the pressure on him to succeed is already reaching uncomfortable levels. His ability to roll hard to the basket but also pop out beyond the arc is what makes him hard to defend and leads to him being fouled in the act of shooting in the first place.
But Ighodaro has a springy athleticism to his game that Maluach cannot match, and he has to turn this into a strength, which includes creating contact more himself to take as many free throws each night as he can.
A best-case scenario for the Suns is the pair playing together and forcing opponents to make difficult decisions. Until that happens, Ighodaro needs to show improvement in this area to stay close to the surging Maluach.
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