Welcome to Inside the Suns, your weekly deep down analysis of the current Phoenix Suns team. Each week the Fantable – a round table of Bright Siders – give their takes on the Suns’ latest issues and news.
Fantable Questions of the Week
Q1: If Mark Williams stays healthy this year, do you believe the Suns will finish the season with four centers on their roster or possibly look to move one of them at the trade deadline?
GuarGuar: If Mark stays healthy, I really think we end up moving Nick Richards at some point or just cut him. He’s just a guy to be honest and nothing about his game is exciting and he definitely cannot be a starter on a contending team in the future. We can probably package him with someone else
at some point before the deadline. If Mark is out though he is a quality backup/3rd string center so I can’t blame the team for keeping him around.
Ashton: That is a big if Mark Williams finished the season healthy. But no, I do not see four centers on the roster at the end of the season.
If MW manages 60, heck 50, games I see Nick Richards being traded for a second-round pick and some filler. And I expect those conversations to occur closer to the trade deadline than towards the end of the season.
May as well bring out my pessimistic side. I would take the under 50 games that Mark Williams plays. Conditioning training is your new buzzword. And what the heck does that even mean? Something about rebuilding his core strength?
OldAz: Like many questions, the correct answer is always “It depends”. In this case, the question hinges on a single factor of Mark Williams’ health. In reality, there are multiple other factors at play in this decision. Is Oso really able to hold up as a center in the NBA? If not, then they don’t have four centers to start with. How quickly does Maluach develop? If he develops quickly and is worthy of significant minutes AND Williams stays healthy, then even three centers on the roster of that quality may be too many. Finally, if Williams does stay healthy, what are their conversations with him about his desire to stay, knowing that Maluach is the future?
All of these questions are equally important in determining if they should move on from one of their centers at the trade deadline. The secondary question is much easier to answer in that Richards is the most movable asset with value among the four, once they do decide to pull the trigger and trade from their Center depth.
Rod: It’s quite possible that one of them gets moved at the deadline, in that case, but far from certain. I don’t think that Suns will be in a hurry to move anyone but if another team wants to add depth to their center rotation going into the final stretch before the playoffs I don’t doubt that the Suns will be getting calls and perhaps a trade offer that works out well for them too. In that case, I can see them making a deal.
Man-man isn’t going anywhere, but I wouldn’t count out Richards or even Ighodaro being dealt for the right offer. Richards is on a fairly inexpensive but expiring contract, which makes him the most likely candidate. If Williams does stay healthy, he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer who will need to get paid, and I don’t see the Suns wanting to give out new contracts to both him and Richards so moving him during the season, even if only for a small return, makes more sense than just letting him walk at the end of the year.
I’d really like to keep Oso, but I do think he’s already shown himself to be a quality backup/depth center and will have a good NBA career as one, even if he never develops into more of an offensive threat. Yes, if he had an outside shot worth talking about, then he could become a very good PF and probably a quality starter at that position…but he hasn’t done so yet, and there’s no reason to think that it will happen anytime soon. I’d hate to lose him but I would bet that other teams would certainly ask about him if center depth was what they were looking for.
Q2: Between Khaman Maluach and Rasheer Fleming, which rookie do you believe could get the most court time early on this season?
GuarGuar: I don’t think either will get much time to start the season if I’m being honest. However, if I had to choose, I’d say Maluach based on what we saw in preseason. Defensively, he looks pretty ready, and we wouldn’t ask a ton of him offensively outside of being in the dunker’s spot or finishing off pick-and-roll feeds. He’s absolutely huge and you cannot teach that sort of size. He’s also our 10th pick, so I can’t see management coming down asking for him to get some minutes before 2026 starts.
Ashton: This relates closely to question one, so I believe it will be Maluach that will see more run at the center position. It is not a place where I would want to place a rookie into a starting position but with Williams on conditioning time (cough cough), I do not think the Suns have a choice but to play him.
Does KM see 20 minutes a game? Tough bet there.
Fleming did not see a bunch or preseason minutes, which tells me he will not see a bunch of regular season minutes.
OldAz: This one is fairly easy for me, and the answer is Fleming. Maluach, despite having a good showing in preseason, is still a raw rookie with significant other options at center. Fleming may also be raw, but he looks more like an actual PF compared to anyone else on the roster. This alone in my mind should get him opportunities to develop and see what he can bring to the team. I think both should get minutes, because that is where development happens, and both should be given a long rope to make mistakes and grow. As long as the effort and intensity are there, the development of young players like Fleming and Maluach should be given a high priority this season.
Rod: I’m picking Fleming in this one because the Suns don’t actually have another true power forward on their roster. Oso is big enough and quick enough, but very limited offensively. Dunn just doesn’t have the size to to play at PF and still hasn’t proven to be a consistent contributor offensively. There will likely be times where they need Fleming’s size, defense and offense at the 4 and he will get opportunities to play.
Maluach will also get his opportunities, but with Williams, Richards, and Ighodaro also on the roster, I just don’t think the Suns will need to put him on the court regularly and will attempt to develop him more slowly because of that.
Q3: Was waiving Jared Butler a mistake?
GuarGuar: Time will tell, but at the end of the day, this was for our 3rd string PG. Butler is a great scorer, but this team has plenty of those. Goodwin is way more defensive-minded and fits the identity Gregory and Ott are trying to build here. Neither Goodwin nor Butler would’ve played, but the reason I would’ve kept Butler is because if he did end up playing, it meant we were really shorthanded and probably would need his scoring boost. You don’t just accidentally score 35 in a preseason game; you have to have that kind of talent. If he turns into something legit, this front office definitely will be shaking its head.
Ashton: There are some real crystal ball questions in all this. Is Jalen Green hurt and for how long? Then it was probably a mistake as we will not get any real answers from the Suns organization to the extent of the injury.
And as I write this on a Wednesday morning before the Sunz and Kangz game, it looks like GA hit the injured list. This is so ironic. Now the Suns have a shooting guard position problem?
So, where I initially shrugged it off, it might be a good idea to call up Butler’s agent again.
I want to go on a quick tangent here. Does it seem to the board that there are more NBA injuries before the regular season starts? I was not aware the training regiment in Cancun was that acute. It seems like most of the NBA news I read these days are focused more on injury reports.
So, it was a mistake. The more backup plans the better.
OldAz: At the end of the day, I don’t think it was a mistake. I totally understand the argument that they should have kept him in that last roster spot and could always waive someone later. However, the last couple of spots off the bench rarely get significant playing time, and if there is a need for meaningful minutes, it is even more difficult to divide those minutes between younger veteran players. Both played well in the preseason, but while Butler’s high was certainly higher than Goodwin’s, I believe Goodwin was more consistent.
I also think there’s an element where they went with defense over offense, and who better fits the new team culture. Finally, there is something to be said for why Butler has not been able to stick with any team in his young career. We as fans may not know the full story, but if it were purely based on talent, then the Suns would not be making a decision on him for the last roster spot anyway. Better for everyone involved to give him the opportunity now to find the best, next opportunity available for him.
Rod: Not really. I would have liked them to keep him on the roster, but keeping that 15th roster spot open gives the team some flexibility in case they need to add someone at another position in case of an injury, as well as saves them some luxury tax dollars. With it coming down to a choice between him and Goodwin, I believe Ott decided on defense over offense in this case. Goodwin doesn’t have all the offensive skills that Butler does, but I think he’s a more versatile defensive player capable of guarding positions 1-3 well and just fits what the Suns are trying to do this season better.
As always, many thanks to our Fantable members for all their extra effort this week!
Quotes of the Week
“All five guys got to be a threat, all five guys got to be willing to shoot even if the ball comes to you and you have a good look at 20 (on shot clock), that might be the best shot you get.” – Jordan Ott.
“Effort and communication. Those are always the two main ones that sit with me. We can make everything work if we have those things dialed in. It might always be at its best, but our low days have to be higher than most.” – Devin Booker
“On a night-to-night basis, we’ll have a plan going into it, but we have to be a little fluid as coaches and kind of read the games and see exactly who is impacting winning out there on the court on a night-to-night basis.”- Jordan Ott on the Suns’ center rotation
“He’s like a music box. Literally, every day he’s probably singing a different song every single day.” – Jordan Goodwin on Suns rookie Khaman Maluach
Suns Trivia/History
On October 22, 1976, twin brothers Tom and Dick Van Arsdale played together in a game for the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first pair of twins to play for the same NBA club. The Suns ended up losing the game 111-98 to the New Orleans Jazz.
On October 25, 1975, Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor member Alvan Adams made his NBA debut for the Phoenix Suns in an 89-88 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. He was just 2 assists short of getting a triple-double (14 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) in his NBA debut. Adams also played a big role in helping the Suns get to their first-ever NBA Finals appearance, where they were defeated 4-2 by the Boston Celtics. Adams was named to the All-NBA Rookie Team, won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and was selected to play in the All-Star Game that year.
On October 25, 2013, the Suns traded Shannon Brown, Marcin Gortat, Malcolm Lee and Kendall Marshall to the Washington Wizards for Emeka Okafor and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Tyler Ennis was later selected). Okafor was injured at the time of the trade and never played a single game for the Suns.
Important Future Dates
Oct. 25 – 2025 NBA G League Draft (1 p.m. ET)
Oct. 27 – Nov. 6 – NBA G League Training Camps open
Nov. 6 – Rosters set for NBA G League Opening Day (5 p.m. ET)
Nov. 7 – NBA G League Tip-Off Tournament begins
Jan. 5 – 10-day contracts may now be signed
Jan. 10 – All NBA contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season
Feb. 5 – Trade deadline (3:00 pm ET)
Feb. 13-15 – 2026 NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles, CA
