Khaman Maluach’s run through Summer League has changed the conversation in Phoenix.
This isn’t about whether the Suns have found a promising young big man. That part already feels settled. The real question now is bigger: how much do they trust him, and how soon do they put him in a role that matters?
After four games in Las Vegas, Maluach put together a line that’s hard to ignore: 19.5 points, 12.8 rebounds, eight blocks, eight made threes, and a 40% clip from deep. That kind of production doesn’t just turn heads. It starts nudging roster decisions.
The praise has gone well beyond Phoenix, too. CBS Sports labeled him “one of the best sophomores at the event.” Bleacher Report named him to its First Team and pointed out the matching totals of blocks and threes, a neat little snapshot of a center who can protect the rim and space the floor.
That’s where this gets interesting for the Suns.
Summer League is not the regular season, and nobody should pretend otherwise. But some performances are loud enough to force a rethink, and Maluach’s was one of them.
He didn’t just look better. He looked like a player who changes the shape of the court.
That matters because Phoenix has long flirted with spacing without fully committing to a true five-out look. The Suns have had shot-makers.
They’ve had guards who can bend defenses. What they haven’t had is a center who can give them real rim protection and real floor spacing at the same time.
Maluach gives them a chance to explore that.
A lineup built around Khaman Maluach, Miles Bridges, Dillon Brooks, Devin Booker, and Jalen Green would give Phoenix a different kind of balance. Booker would see cleaner driving lanes.
Bridges would get better second-side chances. Brooks would have more room to operate.
Green would have a clearer runway. And Maluach would be the piece holding it all together, anchoring the back line while keeping defenses honest on the perimeter.
The shooting is the part that makes this feel different. Eight made threes across four games isn’t empty noise when they came as part of the offense - trail looks, pick-and-pop chances, and spot-ups created by ball movement. That 40% number may be a Summer League sample, but it still says something about comfort, confidence, and the kind of range that can pull a big away from the paint.
If that holds in any form during the regular season, even in a smaller role, it changes the geometry of the offense. Opposing centers have to follow him.
Rim protectors can’t just camp in the lane. The floor opens up in a way Phoenix hasn’t had before.
So yes, the starting discussion is here now.
Not because of one highlight. Not because of one hot shooting stretch.
Because enough people have watched enough of Khaman Maluach and reached the same conclusion: the question is no longer whether he can help. It’s how much responsibility the Suns are ready to give him.
In Other News...
Dillon Brooks Just Changed The Tone Of The Suns Roster
Dillon Brooks has already changed the feel of the Suns roster, giving Phoenix the kind of edge and edge-of-the-seat volatility that can reshape a teams identity in a hurry. The fit has been strong enough that his arrival is being discussed in the wider NBA conversation, not just as a useful move for the Suns, but as the kind of addition other contenders can look at and wish they had made first.
For a Warriors team dealing with its own questions, Brooks has become the sort of wing presence that stands out even more in contrast to where Golden State is now. The comparison inevitably drifts toward Jimmy Butler, whose injury and contract situation have complicated the picture, and it is hard not to notice how much cleaner the Suns situation looks with Brooks in place, even if the full long-term payoff still has to play out. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Just Showed How Much Dillon Brooks Matters In Phoenix
The Suns locked in one of their most important tone-setters this week, agreeing to a three-year, $73 million extension with Dillon Brooks that keeps the forward in Phoenix through the 2029-30 season. The team confirmed the deal in a press release, and general manager Brian Gregory singled out Brooks competitiveness and the impact he has made since arriving from Houston, a sign of how quickly he has become more than just another rotation piece.
For a roster trying to build toward sustained postseason relevance, Brooks gives Phoenix the kind of edge and edge-of-the-seat presence teams tend to notice most once the games tighten up. His fit has already been clear enough for the Suns to make a fully guaranteed commitment, and the bigger question now is how much that kind of reliability will matter when the playoff stakes get higher. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Fans Are Split On What This Offseason Really Fixed
The Suns spent the offseason trying to sell continuity, keeping key free agents in place and making a point of staying familiar rather than chasing a full roster reset. They also made a draft-day move to land Koa Peat, a bet on adding another young piece while trying to address their interior play, but the broader reaction around the league has been mixed enough that some analysts still handed the summer a low grade.
Much of the pushback has centered on the trade for Miles Bridges, a deal that cost Phoenix a future first-round pick and immediately invited debate about his legal history, contract situation and fit on a team still trying to clarify its needs. For Suns fans, the question is less about whether the front office was active and more about whether the moves actually solved anything meaningful, or simply rearranged the same problems into a new shape. [Read more 🡒]