Mark Williams enters this season with a clear assignment: justify the Suns’ bet on him.
Phoenix gave Williams a three-year, $38 million extension, and while the deal made sense for both sides, it also pushed the franchise above the first apron. That matters. The Suns know all about the limits that come with that territory, and they are living with the kind of financial squeeze that is already getting in the way of one Western Conference contender’s title chase.
So Williams has to do more than fill a spot. He has to prove he was worth the cost of dragging the roster deeper into salary cap purgatory. A strong place to start would be building on the career-high 60 games he played last season.
The timing of his absence in the playoffs only sharpened that point. Williams was unavailable when the Suns were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder, a series that made it look like a traditional center might have helped against the size the Thunder could throw around the floor.
Right now, though, Williams is the starting five in The Valley mostly because of the options behind him. Sophomore Khaman Maluach is not close to taking that job yet, and Oso Ighodaro has looked more comfortable as a backup.
Even that setup may not last long. Maluach turned in an explosive Summer League and could be nearer to a larger role than expected, while Ighodaro found real value as an athletic and occasionally undersized center who helped head coach Jordan Ott open up different lineups last time out.
That means Williams needs to get rolling early.
His contract also makes him a movable piece later on if things go sideways, as long as he stays healthy. The league’s shortage of quality starting bigs is obvious enough, and the Lakers’ huge overpay for a player who appeared in six games last season only underlined it.
Still, Phoenix is looking for more than availability. Williams can strengthen his case by improving in a specific area like offensive rebounding, where he averaged 3.1 per game last season, or by building a better two-man game with Devin Booker or Collin Gillespie.
There is also the defensive side. The Suns finished ninth in defensive rating at 112.9 last season, and that number climbed slightly to 113.3 when Williams was on the floor. If he can help push Phoenix closer to the top five in that category, even that is a difficult climb, it would be another sign the Suns made the right call.
For Williams, the pressure is coming from every direction: younger teammates pushing for minutes and the constant risk that his own body could let him down.
In Other News...
Oso Ighodaro Just Put Suns Fans On Notice About His Role
Oso Ighodaro is already thinking bigger than a standard role-player season in Phoenix. As the Suns continue shaping the edges of their roster, the young big man framed his own place on the team around winning and said the groups goal remains to compete for a championship, a reminder that even the development pieces are being asked to fit into a high-stakes environment.
Ighodaro also described the kind of player he believes he can be for this roster, pointing to his ability to connect different parts of the floor while he works to round out his game. The focus has been on sharpening his free throws and 3-point shot, and for the Suns, that kind of growth matters because it can determine whether he stays in a limited support role or becomes something more meaningful in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Have A Trade Chip Question Fans Can't Ignore
When teams start sorting through roster flexibility, the conversation usually turns less glamorous and a lot more practical: which contracts can actually help if the front office needs to pivot? For the Suns, that exercise has meant looking beyond the obvious names and setting rookie deals aside to judge which veterans might carry real value in a trade market built around salary, age and upside.
Collin Gillespie stands out in that kind of inventory as the kind of affordable contract teams can circle, especially with his development giving Phoenix something to monitor closely. Devin Booker and Jordan Goodwin also come up in the broader evaluation as movable pieces, which says plenty about how the Suns can frame their options even if no actual deal is being forecast. [Read more 🡒]
Oso Ighodaro Knows Exactly What This Suns Season Has To Prove
Oso Ighodaro spent the offseason looking ahead to a Suns group that believes it has more to show in the coming year, especially with a reloaded starting lineup and the chance to build on last seasons success. After playing all 82 games a year ago, Ighodaro is positioned to be part of that next step in Jordan Otts second season, and he talked about the importance of giving Phoenix a steady presence as the team tries to sharpen its identity.
For Ighodaro, the job is bigger than just logging minutes. He wants to be a key playmaker on the floor and a voice in the locker room, while continuing to round out his game by improving his shooting range. The Suns have enough new pieces and enough expectations that how quickly players like Ighodaro grow into those responsibilities could say plenty about where this season is headed. [Read more 🡒]