As the Phoenix Suns look ahead to free agency, the speculative odd man out may wind up being 24-year-old Mark Williams.
The restricted free agent center was acquired last summer for a package that included multiple first-round picks, but his time in The Valley may ultimately be limited to one season regardless.
There are a few reasons for that synopsis, not least of which being that the Suns should look to prioritize bringing back fellow free agent Collin Gillespie.
The Suns hold Gillespie’s early Bird rights, which should make a reunion close to a sure thing. Gillespie also fills a position of need (point guard) lacking serious depth on the roster, and reports to this point indicate that both parties are interested in reaching a new deal.
For Williams, though, lack of depth is far less of an issue. The Suns got great production throughout the season from second-year big man Oso Ighodaro, but they also have a young lottery pick waiting in the wings to get his time to shine.
Sam Vecenie calls Khaman Maluach ‘center of the future’ in Phoenix
“I would imagine (the Suns) still foresee Khaman Maluach as their center of the future,” Sam Vecenie of The Athletic said on his “Game Theory Podcast” when discussing the “convoluted” future for Williams.
“I think there’s every reason to believe Khaman Maluach is their center of the future even if this season he only ended up playing 400 minutes or so, I think was the ballpark,” he said.
Vecenie wins by “The Price is Right” rules, as Maluach played 411 minutes across 46 games (one start) as a 19-year-old rookie. The Duke product didn’t get many opportunities outside of garbage time, but there’s plenty of reason to believe the hype that made him a No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.
While Maluach in many ways remains a raw talent offensively, his defense is already elite when looking at rim protection on the interior.
Maluach’s defended field goal percentage on shot attempts inside of six feet from the basket was a sterling 44.3%, according to data from NBA.com. Not only was that the best mark on the Suns — and far better than Williams, who had a rather pedestrian campaign in terms of rim protection — it was also the best defensive field goal percentage in the entire NBA from that distance out of players who played at least 30 games while defending at least two such shot attempts per contest. Clint Capela (46.3%) and Chet Holmgren (48.9%) rounded out the top three behind Maluach.
Add in the financial constraints the Suns will face this offseason, and it makes sense for Phoenix to move forward with Maluach and Ighodaro as the center tandem instead of paying three guys to juggle responsibilities on the interior.
Developing Maluach is certainly the priority, and allowing him to develop against NBA competition will be difficult if he remains third on the Suns’ depth chart at center.
If the Suns believe in Maluach — and by drafting him within the lottery, it’s clear they do — letting him learn through a bigger NBA role makes the most sense for the franchise moving forward.
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