Mark Williams had surgery on Sept. 10 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury he suffered in an offseason workout. The Suns have not set a timetable. Phoenix now has a decision to make, and the obvious answer is the one they should take.
Start Khaman Maluach.
What Phoenix Is Losing
Williams averaged 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes across 60 games last season, starting 55 of them and shooting 64.4 percent from the field. That was a career high in games played, which says something about his availability history, and he still appeared in only four games after March 3 because of a stress reaction in his left foot.
The 24-year-old is on a three-year, $38 million deal fully guaranteed through 2028-29 after Phoenix agreed to terms as a restricted free agent in June. The Suns acquired him from Charlotte in June 2025 for Vasilije Micic, the No. 29 pick and a 2029 first.
A word of caution on the return date: the roughly five-month, February figure circulating is from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports, not from the team. Phoenix’s own release says no set timetable.
The Case for Maluach
Gerald Bourguet of Sports360AZ made the argument that Phoenix should hand the job to Maluach outright, and the logic holds up. The 2025 lottery pick is viewed inside the building as the center of the future, and his development accelerates if he gets to learn alongside starters rather than second units.
Maluach just turned 20 on Sept. 14. He played 46 games as a rookie, averaging 3.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 8.9 minutes while shooting 53.3 percent. Those raw numbers mean nothing at that workload. The per-36 extrapolation, 12.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks, means a little more.
The evidence people should actually look at: his first career start on April 8 produced four points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, and he averaged 19.5 points and 12.8 rebounds across four Summer League games this offseason.
The Case for Oso Ighodaro
Ighodaro is the safe choice, and Phoenix has reason to like him. He played all 82 games last season with 24 starts, averaging 6.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 22.0 minutes on 65.3 percent shooting. In the playoffs he started four games and averaged 7.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 32.3 minutes.
Bobby Marks noted the Suns were plus-5.1 in net rating with Ighodaro on the floor and minus-2.5 with him off. That is not nothing.
The problem is his ceiling. He shot 45.3 percent from the free throw line, offers limited rim protection, and at No. 40 in the 2024 draft he was never projected as a starter on a good team.
Phoenix Should Take the Swing
Maluach offers more size, length, shot blocking and shooting upside than Ighodaro. He is also the player Phoenix traded for in the Kevin Durant deal precisely because they believed he could become this.
The Suns signed 30-year-old Duop Reath to a one-year minimum on Sept. 16 for frontcourt depth, which gives Jordan Ott a veteran fallback if the rookie struggles.
Williams is out indefinitely with a shoulder that will need real rehabilitation. Phoenix can spend those months giving starter minutes to a 20-year-old with All-Defense potential, or they can give them to a backup center and learn nothing. Only one of those makes the team better in April.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.