As the coming season draws nearer and nearer, there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Phoenix Suns organization. In the midst of figuring out their long-term vision, I believe one move the team should look to make is re-signing Mark Williams.
In the next year, Williams will finish out the final year of his rookie contract and will earn $6.2 million. He's already extension eligible. By trading for him back in June, it would seem to be pretty obvious that Phoenix views him as more than just a short-term fixture at center.
When the Suns made that move to acquire him from the Charlotte Hornets over the summer, they accepted the risk of taking on a guy who clearly has had enough injury troubles to worry other teams around the association (see: Los Angeles Lakers, February 2025). They are undoubtedly committed to including him in their future plans.
Ever since Deandre Ayton departed the franchise, Phoenix has struggled to find legitimate size, rim protection and consistency on the interior. Mark is going to provide a lift in those departments. He may have plenty of competition from other centers on the roster, but he has an obvious experience advantage over Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro, along with a talent advantage over Nick Richards.
Phoenix has already displayed their belief in Williams — so re-sign him
It's important to note that the Suns and Williams will have a deadline of October 20 to agree to a new deal. Should that day come and no agreement has been reached, Mark will become a restricted free agent next offseason.
Of course, Phoenix's regular season doesn't begin until after that date. What that means is that the organization is going to have to make a swift decision here, likely using what they see from Williams in training camp and preseason to gauge how confident they are in having this guy as their starting center for the foreseeable future.
Should they choose to go the other route and wait until next summer, they're going to be potentially bidding against other teams across the association, with the obvious nightmare scenario of losing him for nothing very much on the table. With that being said, I actually think it may be more likely they go this route.
I personally have enough belief in Williams that if I were the Suns' President, I'd go ahead and re-sign him now. But I think Phoenix may approach the situation with just a bit more caution and wait it out. Seeing how Mark performs over the course of an 82-game season in a new environment is going to tell the front office a lot about what would be the wisest choice next summer.