Suns’ Rookie Stands Out in Preseason Win

Having offloaded superstar Kevin Durant, the Phoenix Suns have been — perhaps rightfully — written off for the 2025-26 season.

They’re now led by a trio of shooting guards in Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, and have a hodgepodge mix of veterans and up-and-coming youngsters filling out the rest of the roster.

Rookie center Khaman Maluach is one of those youngsters, and he’ll have one of the biggest says in just how good this Suns team can be.

Tuesday night offered a look at that. In a nine-point win over the Lakers, who played more than a few legitimate contributors, Maluach added 17 points, eight rebounds and five stocks in looking like one of the best players on the court. He shot 80% overall, even shooting and hitting on one shot from beyond the arc.

Maluach did just about everything for Phoenix on the interior. He rebounded on both ends, set screens and rolled with tenacity, caught every pass in his vicinity and used improving hands to flush shots with ease. On defense, he put himself in position to make plays and did so, nabbing three steals and dishing two blocks.

Late but too good a performance not to post,

Khaman Maluach vs. Lakers: pic.twitter.com/SwsdnRxCNL
— Derek Parker (@DParkOK) October 15, 2025

All in all, the performance made for what was easily the best game of Maluach's short pro career. Even better, the former Duke Blue Devil did it all on a night where the Lakers played Deandre Ayton 26 minutes.

While Maluach hasn’t had a sparkling start to his pro career — both at Summer League and in NBA preseason — it’s easy to envision him as the team’s center of the future on nights like Tuesday. He has the immense length and fluidity to make plays on both ends, and a general understanding of where to be and when.

Now, Maluach will have to shore up his consistency. While the highs are high, the lows are low.

He hadn’t registered a block in 42 minutes across three other preseason games, instead issuing seven fouls in those contests. His rebounding has been solid, but he’s seldomly been aggressive offensively, even against a mediocre Brooklyn Nets’ defense.

For now, Mark Williams is likely to remain the Suns’ go-to option at center. Though Maluach will use his debut season to fit in when he can, infusing lineups with length and interior force. If he can continue to grow marginally over the next few seasons, Phoenix will likely roll him out full time.