The 2025-26 season has not gone according to plan for Oso Ighodaro. The second year forward beginning the campaign in a starting role, before being phased out of that group thanks to some subpar performances.
The perfect way to sum up the Ighodaro experience came in the recent loss to the Houston Rockets. He played 20 minutes, not all of them bad, but only scored two points and had a pair of rebounds. Yet his game score was plus three, which if nothing else was a positive outcome for the player.
Ighodaro backed publicly by head coach Jordan Ott.
Which is why he will have been relieved to hear Suns' head coach Jordan Ott come out fighting for him after the defeat, going so far as to say that the team needed not only him, but also Mark Williams and Nick Richards in order to be at their best.
From Monday:
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) November 25, 2025
"We need all three of them. That's the reality."
Jordan Ott talking about Suns bigs Mark Williams, who sat out the second of a back-to-back, Nick Richards, who got the start in Monday's loss to Houston, and Oso Ighodaro. #Suns #Rockets pic.twitter.com/DFjtk0QjQ2
This is important for two reasons, with the first being that Williams again didn't play in what was another back-to-back for the franchise. He hasn't all season, and it is clear coach Ott will live with giving Ighodaro more run when that happens.
He's getting about five extra minutes of game time in the absence of his teammate, and although he is failing to make the most of that opportunity right now, it is clear coach Ott is going to keep turning to him.
There is also a case to be made that Richards will get traded before the deadline, because he's the odd man out in The Valley on a cheap deal at a time when even competent backup centers are hard to come by in the league.
Should that happen then Ighodaro will again see his role increase, although it was coach Ott's failure to mention Khaman Maluach that will have given him the most encouragement. The rookie instead having been assigned to the G League once more.
He was a high lottery pick that was part of the Kevin Durant trade, yet it is clear he is a long-term project. Which suits all involved, because the Suns have time to see what he can become, while it also gives Ighodaro the breathing room to prove he has a role on this roster.
So while those four starts feel like a long time ago now, and although the organization would love to get more out of him, coach Ott is sticking with Ighodaro for the time being. He's an athletic if undersized big who works best as a four, and the Suns need that profile in The Valley.