PHOENIX — Phoenix Suns starting center Mark Williams suffered a torn left labrum during a scrimmage and will miss several months with no timetable for his return, a significant blow before the season has tipped off. The injury, disclosed this week, leaves Phoenix without its projected starting center for an undetermined period.
Williams signed a three-year, $38 million contract this offseason, and the injury renews questions about his durability after Phoenix committed to him as its center of the future. His projected role was complementary as the fifth offensive option — creating extra possessions on the offensive glass, finishing putbacks, setting screens, rolling hard and providing a vertical threat around the rim — which makes the absence more absorbable than losing a primary scorer but still tests depth in the Western Conference.
The biggest beneficiary is sophomore center Khaman Maluach, the 10th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-2 big flashed in Las Vegas this summer and had already raised questions about how Phoenix would integrate him into the rotation. Now the door is wide open. Maluach brings size, rim protection, screening, rim running and the potential to stretch the floor, though an adjustment period is expected as opponents learn to attack his strengths and vulnerabilities.
How head coach Jordan Ott structures the rotation will be decided in training camp and preseason. Oso Ighodaro is a candidate to step directly into the starting role vacated by Williams because of his offensive connectivity — screening, ball-handling, ability to facilitate from the five and quick decision-making that raises the level of those around him, traits Ott valued last season. Those same attributes also make Ighodaro an ideal backup big who can organize the second unit and keep possessions flowing.
The alternative is pairing Maluach with a starting group that already features Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Miles Bridges and may not need additional creation. Maluach may not be as switchable on the perimeter as Ighodaro, but his length and rim deterrence can give perimeter defenders more freedom to gamble, while his rebounding on both ends fits the extra-possession philosophy Ott established last season. The likely path is Ighodaro stabilizing the starters early with Maluach coming off the bench, before Phoenix flips the roles to accelerate Maluach’s development and returns Ighodaro to anchoring the second unit as matchups dictate.