The Phoenix Suns have started the new NBA season 1-2 – and while fans are happy to have a roster that is once again defending as a unit and on the hunt every night – we have already seen how the lack of real quality will be their downfall this season. If we’re going to argue that fourth-choice center Nick Richards deserves a shot, then this group can only be so good.
One of those players who has already been given plenty of opportunities this campaign is second-year big man Oso Ighodaro. With rookie Khaman Maluach not yet trusted to play big minutes by head coach Jordan Ott — and with Mark Williams not playing back-to-back to manage his body — Ighodaro has started every game.
Ighodaro is going to fail if he continues to be used in the centre.
Through the three games so far, Ighodaro hasn’t been particularly good, although that’s not necessarily his fault either. In fact, playing him as a starting center will be his downfall in The Valley if things continue like this, and from his perspective, the coaching staff seems worrying enough to continue him in this role.
All of Ighodaro pic.twitter.com/0csxF0Ccox
— mo🇸🇴 (@easymoneyyMo) October 26, 2025
Ighodaro may have a ton of athleticism and verticality, but he was drafted as a power forward. The idea was always that he could play against the five in certain formations and on certain nights, but the fact that he starts above Williams, Maluach and Richards is ridiculous. Especially given coach Ott’s strategy of playing veterans, bigger minutes only worked in their opening night win over the Sacramento Kings.
A single rebound in the loss to the Nuggets is bad enough, but the fact that he was asked to go against an all-time great in Nikola Jokic is exactly the problem here. Obviously Maluach and Richards would have been destroyed by the Serbian too, but if nothing else they have bigger frames and are more used to fighting centers every night.
The problem Ighodaro will have moving forward is that once Jalen Green returns from injury, he will leave the starting lineup. The Suns will also have to try to fit Grayson Allen into the puzzle, while not dropping Dillon Brooks. Ighodaro would make more sense at the four alongside Williams or Maluach – plus Green and Devin Booker – but that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
Considering how much he has struggled to start the season, who knows what his role would be in Phoenix once his time with the starters is over. Not dominant enough to play the position the Suns want him to play, while not being skilled enough offensively to be a forward who can bring any kind of consistent scoring, which is what this group needs. The Suns doomed Oso Ighodaro to failure.
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