The Los Angeles Lakers paid a steep price to land Walker Kessler this offseason, sending out two first-round picks and two additional first-round pick swaps. That kind of haul says plenty on its own, and it also shines a light on why the Phoenix Suns handled the Mark Williams situation the way they did.
Williams has had his share of injury issues, but Kessler’s run with the Utah Jazz came with availability problems of its own. He is 25 years old, which makes him more than five months older than Williams, so the Lakers didn’t even land a dramatically younger piece in the deal.
Kessler is the better player, no question. But the bigger point is what would have happened in Phoenix if Williams had not been brought back on a three-year, $38 million extension. The Suns would have been staring at a major hole at center with very little way to fix it.
Phoenix wants to compete with Devin Booker, and Williams helps keep that plan on track. Khaman Maluach has plenty of upside, and there is a real sense that he could take over Williams’ starting job within the next 18 months. Even so, he is not ready for that role yet, which makes Williams the right bridge at the right cost.
Oso Ighodaro gives the Suns another option on the depth chart, but he is not a pure center and has already found success playing forward. A future Ighodaro-Maluach pairing could make sense and save money, but that is still a ways off.
The financial side matters too. The Suns are over the first apron, which left them with basically no room to chase a center on the open market. That makes their ability to sign Luke Kennard at the price they did even more impressive.
Because Phoenix already had Williams in the building, it could bring him back on a deal that worked for both sides. And if he stays healthy, he should remain movable later. Watching the Lakers stretch themselves to get Kessler only reinforces how sensible that approach was.
Both teams are trying to win now with their stars, Luka Doncic and Devin Booker. But in this case, the Suns played the cleaner hand. There simply weren’t center options out there for Phoenix, or for much of the league, and that is why keeping Williams was the smart move while the Lakers went into a frenzy.
In Other News...
Suns Still Have One Problem That Could Erase Last Seasons Progress
The Suns spent last season trying to build something sturdier around a roster that still feels awkward in key spots, and the early read on 2025-26 suggests the same question keeps hanging over them: can the talent be made to fit? Phoenix added Miles Bridges and can point to the growth of its younger players, but the bigger issue remains the construction of the group as a whole, especially when the starters are not bringing enough shooting and the lineup balance still looks shaky.
That matters because the NBAs new anti-tanking rules leave less room for a team to drift once the season goes sideways, and the Suns do not appear built to bully opponents on the glass or in the paint for long stretches. If the outside shot is unreliable and the interior defense stays vulnerable, the progress from a year ago can disappear quickly, which is why this roster still feels like it has one unresolved problem that could define the whole season. [Read more 🡒]
Dillon Brooks Is Making Houston Regret This Suns Gamble
Houston thought it had a clean answer in the Kevin Durant deal, swapping out Dillon Brooks and expecting Dorian Finney-Smith to step into that role with comparable impact. Finney-Smith never really got on track, hampered in part by recovery from offseason ankle surgery, and the fit never gave the Rockets what they were looking for on either end.
Brooks, meanwhile, has turned the move into a win for Phoenix. He settled in as a productive scorer for the Suns and put together a career-best 20.2 points per game, enough to put him in line for a new three-year commitment as Houston watched its replacement plan unravel and eventually ship Finney-Smith to Charlotte. [Read more 🡒]
Khaman Maluach Is Forcing His Way Into The Suns Conversation
Khaman Maluach is heading into his second NBA season with a different kind of attention around him. After a strong Summer League showing, the Suns are looking at him as a young piece worth monitoring, and the way the roster has been shaped around him suggests there may be a real path for him to carve out a role in the rotation rather than spend time developing elsewhere.
Maluach still has work to do, though, because the next step is not just about flashes in an offseason setting. He is expected to improve statistically and stay with the big club, but the competition for minutes will be real, and the Suns will want to see steady progress before they trust him with a bigger piece of the frontcourt picture. [Read more 🡒]