Jordan Ott has decisions to make.
The Suns are holding media day on Monday, Sept. 28, at Mortgage Matchup Center, and training camp opens on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the team’s Phoenix practice facility.
The Suns' first preseason game is Oct. 5, at the Detroit Pistons. They open the 2026-27 regular season on the road Oct. 21 against the Portland Trail Blazers, and the home opener is Oct. 24 against Golden State.
Here are three key position battles to watch for as the Suns begin training for the upcoming season.
Maluach vs Ighodaro
The Suns enter training camp with 7-footer Mark Williams out with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that will sideline him for months, not weeks. Williams, who was the projected starting center, is expected to miss most of this season after
having surgery.
That leaves the position open.
Second-year player Khaman Maluach is a work in progress. Turning just 20 on Sept. 14, Maluach has yet to fill into his grown-man frame. He lacks the necessary strength and experience to compete against top big men on a nightly basis in an 82-game season.
However, the 7-footer has tremendous upside. He’s long, active and a communicator on defense who can protect the rim. He's also a lob threat who can shoot the 3.
Maluach probably is not ready to start despite shining in the NBA Summer League, but his skills are similar to Williams. If they can translate to consistent play with an occasional great game and only an occasional trainwreck outing, Maluach should begin the season as the starter.
Oso Ighodaro is the safer bet, though. He didn’t miss a game last season, so his best ability is availability.
Ighodaro can facilitate, finish at the rim and set solid screens, but has been a liability at the free throw line and isn’t an offensive scoring threat outside of 10 feet.
Maluach and Ighodaro will both play, but the Suns have a blueprint they established last season with Williams and Ighodaro. Williams started 55 of his career-high 60 games last season, but he played 23.6 minutes a game. Ighodaro averaged 22 minutes. In the fourth quarter, Ighodaro averaged six minutes while Williams averaged 5.7.
Ighodaro can always finish games, but if Maluach is having one of his better nights, the Suns can ride out with him, too.
Bridges vs Fleming
This isn’t about who will start. Miles Bridges, acquired in an offseason trade with Charlotte, is the answer at power forward.
The 28-year-old possesses strength, physicality, athleticism and can get to the rim. He's streaky from 3 but sounds willing to pass and put in defensive effort.
If he can bring those latter two skills to the table to go along with his ability to score, Bridges will have the same impact Dillon Brooks had in his first year in Phoenix last season.
The competition at this position really is about Rasheer Fleming getting meaningful minutes playing behind Bridges.
Fleming showed flashes of his potential as a rookie last season in terms of defending, shooting the corner 3 and making athletic plays at the four.
The Suns also have Ryan Dunn, a sound defender entering a pivotal third year, and rookie Koa Peat, who has an NBA body, can get into the paint, but isn’t a 3-point threat.
Beyond them, there is Jordan Goodwin, a 6-foot-3 warrior who is the team's best on-ball defender and at times found himself at the four last season. He was second on the team in offensive rebounds at two a game, led the team in steals at 1.5 a game and shot 37.1% from 3 last season.
He checks so many intangible boxes, but if the Suns are consistently using Goodwin at the four, they'll be small and keep struggling on the defensive backboard.
Fleming can make himself more valuable by being a reliable rebounder.
Green vs Gillespie
Again, this isn’t about who starts. Jalen Green is starting in the backcourt with Devin Booker.
The Suns feel they only got a small sample size of Green last season. The talented guard played just 32 games in the the regular season, missing most of 2025-26 with a recurring right hamstring injury.
The true fit between Booker and Green has yet to be determined.
With Green hobbled most of last season, Gillespie started 58 games in a career year. Averaging 12.7 points and shooting 40.1 percent from 3, Gillespie set a franchise record for made 3s in a single season at 232.
He was second behind Booker on the team in assists per game at 4.6. Gillespie only missed two games last season.
Again, availability is the best ability.
Green shot just 31.3% from 3 and averaged only 2.8 assists. He must improve those numbers so the Suns are more challenging to guard.
Gillespie made teams pay for doubling Booker. Green must do the same and create as well to help Booker generate more off-the-ball looks.
Phoenix struggled to close games last season, going 13-17 in games decided by six points (two possessions) or less.
The Suns will have to decide whether to roll with Gillespie or Green in the final six minutes of close games. Gillespie shot 45% from 3 in the fourth quarter last season. If he can deliver like that this season, Gillespie will find himself closing games, but Green has the talent to impact the game in so many more areas down the stretch.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Khaman Maluach or Oso Ighodaro? Key position battles for Phoenix Suns
