Why Suns Rookie Isn't Doomed This Season

"Khaman Maluach falling to the Phoenix Suns at No. 10 overall was a gift from the basketball gods, with the franchise needing a young center to build around," wrote Greg Swartz.

"The Suns did the right thing by selecting the Duke star, but then made the bizarre decision to trade for Mark Williams using their last moveable first-round pick. Williams has just one year left on his contract before becoming a restricted free agent next summer.

"This either means that Williams will get extended and Maluach will be doomed to play backup center minutes for the foreseeable future or that Williams walks in free agency and the Suns wasted a first-round pick. Obviously, Neither option is good.

"Maluach is going to be the superior defensive anchor between the two and should have been given a runway to a starting job."

Why Suns Made Right Move

The Suns move into the future with Williams, Maluach and Nick Richards on deck in their center rotation.

While Williams is easily a top 20 center in the league when healthy - his injury history practically begs for the Suns to have a capable body behind him.

Unless Williams magically flips the health switch and is available for more than his previous season high of 44 games, the Suns will likely see Maluach plenty in the rotation.

On the other side of the coin, Maluach was widely viewed as a project in the pre-draft process.

His game certainly still needs some fine-tuning. While basketball reps in-game will only help Maluach, the Suns aren't demanding major minutes and placing pressure on the first-round pick immediately - which should only help his growth long-term.

Phoenix clearly hit the reset button this offseason. Maluach - while fun to watch - very much isn't ready to be a starting center out of the gates.

And if the Suns have two capable starting centers available for majority of their nights, that's a fine problem to have.