It’s impossible to fault the Phoenix Suns for making a deal ahead of the trade deadline to move Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis.
Both guys were on expiring contracts and not contributing in head coach Jordan Ott’s regular playing rotations. Moving them provided the Suns financial relief as they got under a luxury tax threshold in the process. Also, Amir Coffey — the return in the Richards trade from the Milwaukee Bucks, since Cole Anthony does not appear to be part of the equation in Phoenix — was an impactful role player for the Los Angeles Clippers as recently as last season.
The Suns followed that move by signing Haywood Highsmith to a multiyear deal to add even more defense and depth out on the wings.
And while moving Richards was the no-brainer trade Phoenix needed to make ahead of the deadline, it comes with the default position of placing a large bet on 24-year-old center Mark Williams.
Suns are betting big on Mark Williams, could that backfire?
Health questions have followed Williams throughout his burgeoning NBA career. The former No. 15 overall pick of the Charlotte Hornets was primed to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in February of last year, but the agreed-upon deal that would have sent Dalton Knecht and a first-round pick to Charlotte for Williams was rescinded.
The Lakers opted not to go ahead with the proposed deal after Williams reportedly failed a physical exam. While the exact details were never made public, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported at the time that Williams’ physical “showed multiple issues” and that the big man’s back was not the primary reason LA backed out of the deal.
Williams encountered back injuries to go with various ailments to his foot, knee, ankle and thumb during his time in Charlotte.
With that injury history, Williams never played more than 44 games in a season for the Hornets. During his first season with the Suns, though, Williams has already played a career-high 50 games (46 starts) before the All-Star break.
The Suns have no doubt been careful about Williams' minutes. He's averaging 24 minutes per game this season, which is fewer than he logged on average in each of the two prior seasons with the Hornets. It's also been rare to see Williams play in each game of a back-to-back on the schedule as the coaching staff aims to keep him fresh.
Still, this is already rarified air for the young big man. He's never played this many games or minutes in a season before, and we still have the entire post-All-Star stretch to go.
Without Richards on the roster now as insurance at the center position, sophomore Oso Ighodaro and rookie Khaman Maluach become the insurance policies behind Williams on the depth chart. Ighodaro has been fantastic during his second year as a pro. The Suns are much better defensively when Ighodaro's on the court, and he sports an on/off net rating of +6.9 points per 100 possessions. What they sacrifice offensively going from Williams to Ighodaro is more than offset by Oso's defensive impact.
Maluach, on the other hand, won't turn 20 years old until September. The teenager has shown flashes of promise in the G League, but the bulk of his NBA minutes as a rookie have come during garbage time.
The No. 10 overall pick of the 2025 draft may be poised to see more minutes in the season's second half. That will be especially true if Williams is forced to miss any time due to those nagging health concerns that already torpedoed a trade agreement.
It's unclear how prepared Maluach would be for an expanded role, especially as the Suns look to stay competitive down the stretch to lock in a playoff spot. At just 19 years old, it would be unfair to expect Maluach to shine at the highest level of competition right away if the situation calls for him to log more meaningful minutes.
Nevertheless, by stepping in and trading for Williams (giving up draft picks in the process), it's clear the Suns believe in his talent and don't share the Lakers' concerns. But there's no guarantee that Williams will stay healthy as he continues to tack on to a career-high in games and minutes played in a season.
That all comes with the backdrop that Williams will be a free agent at season's end. Phoenix's ultimate decision of whether to re-sign Williams hinges on these final months of the campaign.
It's a gamble for the Suns to bet on Williams the rest of the way, but it's one both parties are hoping will pay off in the short and long-term.