The case for Oso Ighodaro to start for the Phoenix Suns

Although Phoenix Suns' head coach Jordan Ott has not come out and confirmed who will be his starting five to begin the new season, four of the spots appear to be sown up already. Devin Booker and Jalen Green will form the backcourt, while Dillon Brooks will slot in at the three as their defensive co-ordinator.

Mark Williams will be the starting center - although updates like this sure don't help - with rookie Khaman Maluach ready to step in if required. Which leaves the power forward role - a spot Brooks can also fill depending on opponent and lineup coach Ott is going for - but which many expect sophomore Ryan Dunn to take. Looking at his growing two-way skill set, it makes sense.

Oso Ighodaro should be given consideration for fifth starting spot.

But what about fellow second year player Oso Ighodaro? At media day he said all of the right things about improving offensively, while during Summer League he out-muscled many of the players he was matched up with. About the only thing stopping him from being a starter is the fact he's a more conventional forward/center, but that might not actually be a bad thing.

If Williams is going to miss time through injury - which seems likely given he only managed 43 games last season - and if Brooks can play either forward spot, then having Ighodaro alongside Maluach would make the Suns incredibly difficult to score on inside. Defending at a higher level is one of their main objectives, and they simply have to improve on allowing 117.7 points per game last season.

Ighodaro's inclusion with the starting five wouldn't fix all of those problems, but the balance between attack and defense sure looks a lot clearer. The Suns would be expecting a lot from Booker and Green each night - but given both are well capable of putting up 30 - perhaps giving them the lions share of the shots is no bad thing.

Ighodaro has the quickness and strength to match up with some of the peskier bigs - such as a Domantas Sabonis - and he can even take a tougher assignment from Maluach. The South Sudanese big man is already impressing his teammates with how vocal he is being defensively at training camp, but tough tests are coming for the 19-year-old.

Brooks could then act as the swing player, who can guard elite scorers on one end and shoot around 38 percent from 3-pointers on the other. This would also allow Dunn to come off the bench with the likes of Grayson Allen, Royce O'Neale and Collin Gillespie, guys who need their version of Brooks to shut down scorers.

The fact this is even a conversation is a real positive for the Suns right now, and it won't matter if Ighodaro begins the campaign off the bench. Options and flexibility are what will make this team a tough out - and in a forward who is rapidly improving and can do a bit of everything defensively - they have just that.