The Phoenix Suns' 1-6 start to the season has not been pretty to watch. No player has covered themselves in glory as the team lurches from one loss to the next, although the trade value of Dillon Brooks is holding strong if a fringe contender is looking for a veteran to add to their playoff rotation. Center Khaman Maluach has looked lost at times out there, and you are foolish if you expected him to look any different as the season unfolds.
Maluach a raw prospect who is years away from regularly contributing
The former 10th overall pick has clear upside, and the franchise should keep giving him the time and space to develop, even if that means more trips to the G League. The Suns don't have any other choice either; they have precious few draft assets, and Maluach is the best prospect on their roster. But thinking he can turn the tide for this sinking ship is ridiculous.
It is not Maluach's fault that Miles Bridges has looked like a black hole offensively since joining, or that everybody from Collin Gillespie to Luke Kennard has underwhelmed so far. Head Coach Jordan Ott has struggled to get the same buy-in defensively, resulting in the Suns still remaining rooted at the bottom of the points allowed category, at an average of 124.5 per game.
Where Maluach does present a problem is in how he is actually making the Suns worse in all of the areas where they are already performing dreadfully. They have a defensive efficiency of a barely believable 132 points when he has been on the court, while offensively he lives off putbacks and broken plays. Maluach has zero go-to moves on that end of the court, and while that should be acceptable given his age and experience, it can't be as the team struggles.
Maluach's time with Suns will get worse before it gets better
None of this is even Maluach's fault, as the offseason injury to Mark Williams meant he had to step into a role that he was not prepared for. Oso Ighodaro getting injured to begin the campaign didn't help, and although he is now back in the rotation, his own limitations only serve to highlight Maluach's even more.
If Ighodaro could dominate for large stretches, it would mask his teammate's deficiencies when he was out there. Only that hasn't happened, and the Suns have gotten crushed inside. Bigger opponents like Donovan Clingan have had a field day, as the Portland Trail Blazers have already beaten them twice, while Draymond Green roughed up Maluach in another loss to the Golden State Warriors.
That prompted Dillon Brooks to pick up the best technical of his life, but even that couldn't spark the Suns into life. As they chase games and seek to get above .500, the Suns are going to try new lineups and use players in different ways. Which will only unsettle Maluach even more. He needs much more time to grow into the player that he can become, and that is a luxury Phoenix cannot currently give him.
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