As the NBA inches toward the possibility of expansion, the question for every front office is the same: who do you lock in, and who do you leave exposed? In a recent Bleacher Report mock expansion draft, Dan Favale and Grant Hughes tackled that exercise for every team, and for the Phoenix Suns, the inclusion of Mark Williams among the protected players jumps off the page.
That’s the kind of call that would be hard to justify if it ever came to pass.
The Suns would be operating under the same basic setup that applied in the Charlotte Bobcats’ 2004 expansion draft, when teams could shield eight players. Hughes’ version of Phoenix’s protected list includes Williams, which would leave younger names such as Rasheer Fleming and Koa Peat available for a future Las Vegas Kalshi Polymarkets team, name still to be determined. But Williams has already given the Suns plenty of reason to think twice about treating him as a must-keep piece.
Health is the biggest issue. Williams played 60 games in his first season in Phoenix, and that was somehow a career high. Before that, he had never reached 45 games in a season, and his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was wiped out after LA’s concerns over a reportedly failed physical exam.
Even if you put the availability concerns to the side, the on-court case for protecting him is shaky. Williams, a 7-foot-1 center, did not separate himself as a rim deterrent.
Oso Ighodaro allowed opponents to shoot 57.8 percent on attempts within six feet last season, according to NBA.com data. Williams was worse, giving up a 64.4 percent mark in those same situations.
Khaman Maluach, the former No. 10 overall draft pick, was better than both. He held opponents to 44.3 percent in those looks, tops in basketball among players who met the source’s minimums of at least 30 games played and at least two such field goals defended per game.
That’s the real problem for Phoenix in a theoretical expansion setup: there are already two better defensive center options on the roster, and Maluach brings the added appeal of a former lottery pick. Protecting all three would be an odd use of those limited slots.
The Suns also have younger players who look easier to invest in. They just moved up into the first round of the 2026 draft to take Koa Peat at No. 30 overall, the local product and University of Arizona star. On a cheaper contract and without the same health concerns, he makes a cleaner choice than Williams.
Then there’s Rasheer Fleming, who has been billed as the Suns’ biggest sleeper heading into his second season as a pro. At 6-foot-9 with a wingspan that stretches beyond 7-foot-5, Fleming has the kind of physical tools that can change games on defense. And the production has been real enough to notice: across nine G League games last season, counting the Tip-Off Tournament and regular season, he averaged 17.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.4 assists while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from deep.
G League numbers don’t guarantee anything at the NBA level. But for a team making a protection list, the upside is the point, and those are the kinds of traits Phoenix would be wise to guard.
There is still a chance an expansion team wouldn’t take Williams even if he were left available. His contract is team-friendly, sure, but expansion clubs are chasing a blend of reliability and growth, and right now Williams doesn’t offer much of either.
That doesn’t make him a bad player. It just means his games and minutes don’t stack up well against younger pieces who could become more valuable down the line, especially with Maluach already in the picture.
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