What Suns Re-Signing Mark Williams Really Means For Khaman Maluach

PHOENIX -- It was very apparent when the Phoenix Suns drafted Khaman Maluach 10th overall last summer that they would be prioritizing the development of the 7-foot-1 center.

Phoenix traded for Mark Williams to be its new starting center mere minutes before the pick and also still had Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro on the roster.

This led to Maluach appearing in just 46 games his rookie season, and he ended the year as the third-string center behind Williams and Ighodaro.

In the minutes he did play, the 19-year-old Maluach showed he has a lot of room to grow, which was expected given that he has only played basketball since 13, and left the Suns with a decision to make this summer on how they wanted to continue to go about his development.

Phoenix ended up re-signing Mark Williams to a three-year contract, which runs to the end of Maluach's rookie deal, and still has Ighodaro under contract for two more seasons.

Suns general manager Brian Gregory was asked earlier this week how they plan to find minutes for Maluach next season.

"I think a lot of those things work out as the season progresses. Right now, the most important thing for Khaman is to practice well and get ready for summer league, and to play well at summer league," Gregory said. "There's a lot of different ways that things work out when it comes to minutes and playing time, and sometimes in July a lot of different things are thrown out there.

"Usually in the season, things work out the kind of way they're supposed to work out, and everybody's got to be ready. You know what I mean? ... You just got to be ready when you get your chance. And I think those guys, it's a good luxury to have. At the same time, there's the development piece, there's the team piece, and there's the win tonight's game piece, and all those things got to kind of come together."

Maluach is one of the headliners on this year's Summer Suns team, who play their first game tonight in Las Vegas at 8:00 p.m. MST against the Portland Trail Blazers.

To Gregory's point, the Suns had several players capitalize on the extra opportunities they were given to play last season, which included Maluach at times when Williams was hurt.

With Williams' injury history, Maluach will almost certainly be in line for increased minutes at some point during the year, but the Suns could also get creative in their lineup structure, including shifting Ighodaro to the 4 position next to Maluach.

Maluach will have a golden chance over the next week in Vegas to prove he is worthy of more minutes next season.

"It's year two. It's my second time doing this, but I'm going in with the same mentality I had last year, the same mentality I had throughout the whole season - just getting better each and every day, and just using all the reps, and (taking) advantage of every rep, and not wasting any reps, so that by the time the season gets here, I'm really prepared," Maluach said.

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