Suns letting Khaman Maluach, Oso Ighodaro battle for starting center job

The Suns need a starting center while Mark Williams is sidelined. Jordan Ott isn’t particularly interested in picking one yet.

Instead, Phoenix’s coach intends to let Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro settle the matter on the floor.

Ott told reporters that he plans to “let the preseason play out” before choosing a starter, likely making the call only “a couple of days” before the Suns’ Oct. 21 opener, via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

Maluach certainly hasn’t been waiting around for training camp to make his case. The young center spent part of the offseason working with Devin Booker after reaching out to the Suns star himself. Maluach told Rankin that he wanted to better understand what Booker needs from his big men.

“He’s kind of like a coach himself,” Maluach said. “I get to learn a lot from him, a lot of stuff that the coaches don’t see that he sees as a player when he gets blitzed.”

That’s not a bad guy to ask. Ighodaro has the advantage of already knowing the NBA game. Maluach offers the intriguing upside. With Williams unavailable, Phoenix suddenly has some meaningful preseason minutes for both.

Ott apparently intends to use every one of them before deciding who gets the job.