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The season hasn’t even begun, and the Suns are already dealing with unfortunate injury news. We learned today that Mark Williams suffered a torn left labrum during a scrimmage, and there is currently no timetable for his return.
Can I get a Homer Simpson “Doh!” from the crowd? Pop open a Duff beer and absorb the fact that for a team that needs health to compete successfully in the Western Conference, this is a significant blow. Phoenix will now be without its starting center for an undetermined amount of time before the season has even tipped off. I guess it’s better that he misses the first half than the second half, right?
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Mark Williams has always carried questions about his ability to stay healthy, and this injury is only going to fan the flames of that narrative. For a player who signed a three-year, $38 million contract this offseason, the timing is brutal. From Williams’ perspective, however, there is at least some security. He got the contract. Phoenix committed to him. Now the focus has to shift away from the narrative surrounding his health and toward getting back on the floor.
So what does this mean for the Suns moving forward?
First and foremost, it completely changes a topic I wrote about earlier this week, when I called Phoenix’s center depth one of the more underrated aspects of the roster. Maybe this one is on me, and for that, I am sorry. Goodbye optionality, hello testing of the depth.
The one advantage here, if you want to call it that, is that Williams was projected to be the fifth option offensively. Phoenix wasn’t building the offense around him, which makes this injury easier to absorb than it would be if he were the team’s primary, secondary, or even tertiary scoring option. His role was going to be complementary. Create extra possessions on the offensive glass, finish putbacks, set some screens, roll hard, and provide a vertical threat around the rim. That was his destiny. So while losing Williams is far from ideal, it isn’t a death blow for Phoenix.
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The biggest beneficiary of this situation is sophomore center Khaman Maluach. The 10th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mark-williams-injury-means-khaman-000000112.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-12 00:00:00
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