Like many of you, I have spent night after night watching and absorbing everything that is the Phoenix Suns. And now, 72 games into the season, it hits you a little different when you realize how close we are to the end of it, how the postseason is right there on the horizon, how the opportunity to compete and feel that environment is coming into focus.
I know what the odds say. That teams sitting this far down the standings are not the ones holding the trophy at the end, but that is not the point.
For a young team, playoff experience carries real weight. It shapes you, it exposes you, and it teaches you in ways the regular season cannot. When I look across this roster and at how different players have grown throughout the year, what they are about to experience matters in a way you cannot fully measure.
This season has brought a lot of unexpected turns, and even as the team is coming off a five-game losing streak, it does not erase what has been building in the Valley. Development was always going to be central to this group. It was baked into the identity from the start. When you carry a roster with four rookies — two on two-way deals — and two sophomores, growth becomes part of the daily process. It shows up in the rotations, it shows up in the mistakes, and it shows up in the flashes that make you lean forward in your seat.
If you want something sustainable and if you want a foundation that lasts, you have to invest in those players, put them in situations where they can learn and respond, and trust that over time they evolve from players trying to understand the game into players who can shape it with how they play.
There have been plenty of successes this season, plenty of surprises along the way, but at the top of that list, at least for me, sits Oso Ighodaro. Collin Gillespie deserves his flowers, sure. He has been steady and reliable in a way that nobody fully saw coming. But when I narrow the focus to the young core, the freshmen and sophomores trying to find their footing in this league, what Ighodaro has done stands out.
I think back to the beginning of the season, and like most, my eyes were on Ryan Dunn. The expectation was there. A 28th overall pick in the 2024 draft, an NBA-ready frame, bounce that jumps off the screen, and defensive instincts that make you believe he can carve out a role quickly. That was the storyline.
As the season unfolded, though, it became clear that the real shift, the real emergence, was coming from Oso. He has worked himself into something meaningful, into a player whose presence you feel, into someone who makes you pause and ask where this team would be without him.
Early in the season, I had my doubts. It did not look smooth or natural, and there were moments when it felt like the game was moving too fast for him. The reads were late, the decisions were hesitant, and it gave the impression of a player trying to catch up to the speed of it all rather than dictating anything himself.
Time has a way of telling the truth. As the season progressed, the trust from his coach kept growing, and the opportunities kept coming. Oso Ighodaro met them head-on. He has carved out a role as a playmaking big, someone you can run offense through. He is someone who keeps things flowing and who connects actions instead of stopping them. On the other end, he gives you a switchable defender at the big position, and that is not something every team can roll out on a nightly basis.
The jumper comes up every time, and it is fair. If that part of his game ever arrives, even in a modest way, it changes the conversation around him quickly. But when you scan the league, there are plenty of bigs who make a living without spacing the floor. Oso Ighodaro understands his lane. He does not drift into low-value looks from 17 feet and beyond. He does not force something that is not there, and there is value in that discipline because it keeps possessions clean. I was high on Ryan Kalkbrenner out of Creighton as a draft target, and he has not hit a three all season. Neither has Rudy Gobert. Both players still impact winning in their own ways.
When you evaluate Oso, you see a player who checks a lot of meaningful boxes. He passes with purpose. There is pace to his reads, there is clarity in his decisions, and that matters because hesitation at this level turns opportunities into turnovers. Oso does not carry that hesitation. He processes, he delivers, and the offense keeps moving. Defensively, he holds his own in space, he switches, he competes, and while size can challenge him at times, his athleticism shows up around the rim. He alters shots, he finds blocks, and he has quietly piled them up, sitting second on the team with 46, only four behind Mark Williams.
One of the things that does not get talked about enough with Oso Ighodaro is his hands. They are strong, they are reliable, and they show up in moments where a lot of bigs struggle.
You have seen it a thousand times: a center rolling to the rim, a bounce pass arrives, and suddenly it turns into a loose ball because the catch is not clean. That is not an issue with Oso. He secures it, he gathers, and he finishes. There is comfort in that. Even the push shot has started to look more confident in recent games, a small wrinkle that adds another layer to how he operates around the paint.
When you zoom out and remember he was taken 40th overall, it becomes easier to see why people are starting to view him as a steal. Look at the names around him. Adem Bona goes right after. Then KJ Simpson. Historically, that range of the draft does not carry heavy expectations and less production. You are hoping to find a contributor, someone who can stick. Oso Ighodaro has already pushed past that baseline, and he continues to add to it.
Then there are the small things, the moments that do not live in the box score but matter inside a locker room.
Against Toronto, when CJ Huntley scored his first NBA points, it was Oso who tracked down the game ball and made sure it found its way to him. It is a simple act, but it carries weight. That is how culture is built, through recognition, through awareness, through a genuine appreciation for what everyone is putting into the process. Oso Ighodaro embodies that, and it is part of why he resonates with this group.
As the season winds down, it leaves you with an appreciation for what Oso Ighodaro has become and where he fits in all of this. Anyone suggesting the Suns should move on from him should probably take a step back and reevaluate what they are watching, because reducing a player to whether he can shoot misses the larger picture. Basketball is layered, it is nuanced, and there are countless ways to impact a game beyond spacing the floor.
Oso touches a lot of those layers. He influences possessions, keeps things connected, does the work that allows others to thrive, and does it consistently. That matters. That is what earns trust, that is what keeps you on the floor, and that is what builds real value over time. For a 40th overall pick, this is the outcome you hope for: a player who not only sticks but also becomes part of your foundation.
He has grown into a rotational piece you can rely on, someone who brings a different look on both ends of the court, someone opponents have to account for even if it does not show up in traditional ways. And maybe that is the best way to frame it. Oso Ighodaro gives this team something unique, something that does not always translate to the box score but shows up in how the game feels when he is out there. Players like that become the backbone of what you are building, the connective tissue that holds everything together as you move forward.
