Phoenix Suns Draft Night INSTANT REACTION: Khaman Maluach & Mark Williams To the Valley!

Phoenix Suns Draft Night INSTANT REACTION: Khaman Maluach & Mark Williams To the Valley!

tonight on Locked on Phoenix Suns the draft just happened and the Suns did a whole bunch of things that we were absolutely not expecting they have two centers they have 14 feet of newly acquired big men how’d they do it why’ they do it and are we excited next you are Locked On Suns your daily Phoenix Suns podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day welcome back into a live edition of the Locked Ons podcast i’m Brendan Clean a staff writer at Awful Announcing and a credentialed Suns media member thank you for making Locked on Suns listen watch live immediately after the first round of the NBA draft don’t forget lockdown on Suns free and available on all platforms including YouTube just click that follow subscribe button do what thousands of other Suns fans have already done become an everyday or get locked on to the Phoenix Suns right here each and every day today’s episode guys live on YouTube the number 10 pick a trade and a whole lot to come next joining me to break it down live i’m going to keep saying it we’re here yeah the Wild West Valley my fellow Sunscreenial media member how are we feeling Ben Garcia i’m just going to say he’s my guy last year I was on the radio waves at Fox Sports and I was clamoring for Ryan Dunn ryan Dunn is my guy great i think it’s still a solid pick especially where they got him i cannot believe uh Oh he’s on he’s on he’s on the Suns now so we got to make sure he say his name correctly but come on Malawatch if I I probably will mispronounce it later in the night we are going to respect his name fell into his lap man I’m stoked man watching this all kind of unfold this we we haven’t had a lot of times recently to celebrate his Suns fans i’m going to take the positive road tonight i think tonight was a win so there there’s your opening intro we will get to Mark Williams being acquired with a couple of first round picks and how that factors in we will get to what are the next steps off of this crazy draft night for the Suns but let’s start with the 7 foot2 Sudin big man South Sudin big man I should say from Duke come on Malawatch and a guy that we did not expect to be available here like he was on both of the top threes Ben that you and I did yesterday we addressed that it would be really great if he could fall but we both said it wasn’t likely and then John Gamidoro who obviously gives us so much pre precious info this time of year he prefaced his whole list today obviously a reported list of who the Suns could actually take not the top three preferences like we did but even he said the same thing he’s like “Here’s the top five I think are actually going to be realistic because I don’t think Malawatch is going to be there and the Suns aren’t expecting him to be there so we’ll just bypass him altogether right?” And then he was and kind of out of nowhere it was only going to take I I think you would have to like we all kind of knew like if if one team is going to reach for somebody we’re not expecting it’ll open up and Ace Bailey goes high like we thought he would at least go before 10 he did he went five so that was Yeah it did but it got him out of the way to not be the guy who falls you know for the Suns and then they didn’t have to make that decision or anything crazy then at 8 Brooklyn takes Jaor Deon from BYU the Kevin Young product up there in Provo and that is when I think every Suns fan’s heart started to beat a little faster then Toronto passes on Malawatch a guy that had been mocked he had been mocked there over and over they didn’t take him and then there he was a 10 and the Suns went for it Ben and yeah he was definitely your guy and I loved him as well and he fits the biggest hole that this team had basically since the fall of 2023 when they traded DeAndre Aton and this is about as a big exclamation mark way to fill that hole as you ever possibly could think of this is what separates good organizations from bad or bad organizations right now tonight doesn’t doesn’t do away with all the dirty laundry of the Suns being a dysfunctional organization at least recently but it does show potentially the Suns took advantage of dumb organizations doing dumb things and the Nets I don’t get it man you and I were talking pre-show they have so many first round picks do you need to make that many selections why don’t you just uh uh move up package up a couple of those picks and move back in and get your guy it was very confusing but overall man this is exactly who I wanted the Phoenix Suns to get because you you and I both agree here i don’t think the wing position was the biggest area of need i believe it was the center position especially this year man it was Nick Richards who we could potentially talk about later who we’re not really sure now where he fits in this equation oo Idaro and Mason Plumbley just from an athleticism standpoint going from your backup big now which we can get to Mark Williams later Mason Plumbley to come on Malawatch that is night and day is he going to have hiccups sure man but not only just that but the defensive presence that I believe he will ascend to so we’ll get to the Mark Williams stuff in a little bit but just a just an allout man really great selection let me hear it from you your uh your reaction to it as well because I mean listen we both thought he wasn’t going to be here my number one selection last night you know kind of felt a little like cheating because even I was a little hesitant but I thought one team we just needed one to do something dumb and I think the Nets did what was your reaction so yeah I their that that pick for them is their their fan base can can get mad enough about that but the Suns benefited so I am not gonna pick it apart i I think he’s great i mean look I I the only Nits I even picked yesterday and we should just say like again he’s 72 freshman started all 39 games for a Duke team that went within you know minutes of winning and and heading to the national championship game with a very young squad opposite Cooper Flag in that front court he was you know not anything flashy in terms of numbers because he only played 21 minutes a game and you know it’s college but nine and seven per game beast on the offensive boards he uh had a a 16 and 12% block offensive rebound rate which is insane 7% block rate could get better um you know screening catching the ball and finishing some of that stuff you know he’s still building but he was 13 years old when he started playing basketball as we all saw in the broadcast and the things that he does well are being massive moving around on the floor very well for his size and he’s going to be an elite finisher i mean he was at 75% from two-point range this season that’s about as good as it gets and it’s what you should do when you’re 72 it passes the the bare minimum for sure and then some that he’s taking ample use of every single bit of his size um the only nit I picked last night is when we were talking is I was like I don’t you know he one you know I I don’t really personally I’d be curious how you feel although we basically didn’t watch him enough to say this but like I don’t really know about any sort of three-point shooting or anything that feels far-fetched for somebody this size it’s it’s basically the list is Victor Webbyama and that’s it of guys who have actually made shots at this size I guess bull bull and even those guys aren’t really great shooters so I just I’m not sure I see that um and you know there’s always going to be the limitations when a guy is this big how many minutes can you play him how you know whatever foul trouble can he defend in the post in the le like all that stuff will come in time but those are nitpicks that’s why I just said nitpick i think he’s going to be fantastic and the last thing I’ll say on my side of this is whatever reservations you might have had whatever questions you might have had whatever things you want to see from him going forward as he continues to develop as a basketball player i would imagine for anybody that was wa flushed down the toilet when you saw the reaction that this dude had when he got drafted and the response and answers that he gave to his interview after walking off that stage that was like you’re going to see it in some kind of video package five years from now when he signs his second contract like that is one of the best moments of the entire draft night and it’s hard to not just buy into a dude who cares like that no matter what you think of what he is as a basketball player culture culture culture that’s what the Suns are trying to build here i’m not going to act like I know a bunch about Malaw Malawatch’s uh uh you know upbringing or what he was like in high school or college or whatever right but when I see a guy get that emotional and that hyped up to be where he is that’s what we need to see man it’s a it’s a sense of culture a buy in that the Suns didn’t have last year and you know I hate to switch it from that emotional aspect but you would you I just want to say this as well the 7 foot 76 wingspan guy i I see so much of Rudy Gobear in this guy but I think this guy moves better than Rudy Gobear and I get the defensive stuff that you were talking about before too but I think the lateral quickness man he gets shifted on to guards point guards he’s going to be just fine so like for all those reasons bringing it back to the emotional aspect the Suns need these type of players that are not only talented but bought in and I agree with you man kind of brings a tear tear to your eye when you see a guy of that nature you know making it here and being a top 10 overall pick like it could not have gone any better for the Suns um you know Gambo tweeted out as Gambo five right i can’t remember the last time he was wrong about it and it I this I thought the Suns might even had more of a chance to get him more than I thought they did last night when he quote tweeted it and said “By the way if Malawatch is there I just want everyone to know this is nothing.” Because it was telling the Suns “Holy cow.” And uh you know the just really quickly the Raptors going all the way down to the wire and it went down to 0.00 almost it scared me there i thought someone was going to leaprog the Suns but for everything you said man culture basketball skill upside defensive anchor I I just I this guy gets me excited carter Bryant did it this was the high I think ceiling guy with Yeah maybe some bust potential but I mean listen I’m stoked for this guy man i I don’t feel like it’s a Mo Bomba Bo uh Bo Bull situation like I think this guy cares and I think he’s going to be great here let’s get to the other big news of the day and we’ll go long in the last segment you guys can send your questions in and we will discuss you know everything that’s happened but they made a trade and it basically came down right after the pick like it was like bang bang you’re seeing Sham Shirani on TV and trying to read all these tweets mark Williams also headed to the Phoenix Suns potentially the guy you mentioned Rudy Goar but Mark Williams probably the guy that would be the most direct comp for common malaw watch and then they got both why what does it tell us is it the right move next first today’s show is brought to you by Wayfair there’s nothing like stepping into your own outdoor space and feeling like you’ve escaped to a personal oasis if you are wanting to update your patio this season Wayfair has made it so easy to turn it into a space that feels like yours comfortable stylish and ready for summer Wayfair has everything you need to level up your outdoor space conversation sets outdoor bars fire pits hot tubs gazeos and yes even the perfect string lights to set the vibe it’s like giving your backyard that resort feel without the resort price tag wayfair has everything frankly i’m trying to think of like what’s the thing to recommend that lighting stuff is is is what really can just top off the p the perfect little outdoor space for us in Arizona maybe summer’s not the time but get it get it ready for winter get it ready for hosting around the holidays don’t wait make your outdoor space your dream oasis today with Wayfair and enjoy it all summer long head to wayfair.com right now shop their huge outdoor selection that’s wfir.com wayfair every style every home thanks for sticking around keeping the show rolling mark Williams also a member of the Phoenix Sun stamped and approved with a Sun emoji tweet shortly after he was reported to be on the move ben just I just want to say that that’s not nothing i like the fact that the guy went out there immediately was like “Son emoji I’m here think the dude wants to be saved from Charlotte he thought he was he thought he was free from the Hornets four months ago and he ended up finally getting out of there but uh yeah 7 feet tall um you know huge wingspan like very similar measurables to come on Malawatch and Hornet Center third year out of uh where did he go to college duke so a lot of similarities here right but uh the other thing to mention he has struggled to stay healthy he has played 106 out of basically what uh 240 50 games that he could have played in his three seasons in the NBA he was traded to the Lakers at the deadline to pair with Luca Donuch long term i’m sure Suns fans like the idea of stealing somebody from Luca and the Lakers but he failed his physical and the trade was undone charlotte tried to redo it because I believe connect and him both had already flown over to their new teams and uh it was had to be backpedal and now he ends up here uh obviously because of that people did think he was available but I don’t Ben I don’t think anybody thought that the Suns would be the team to go out and get him and certainly not after they just drafted a dude who I keep saying is uh very very similar so what do you think of all this as you saw it come down and now having what two three hours to sit on it and think about it yeah I completely out of left field and you and I both agreed to this we’re like you and I even mentioned I think jo not jok I think definitely jokingly on one of the earlier shows where I was like I mean could they get Mark Williams for Bradley Beal and you’re like Mark Williams is is a serviceable player when Suns fans talked about Nick Richards being on the bench of the Hornets and being like “Oh this guy’s pretty good.” I was like I remember saying I was like I don’t think that’s the good guy i think the Suns got the second of the worst centers on a team in the Hornets who isn’t very good it’s where my skepticism came now it comes with questions with Nick Richards but o overall 7 foot guy you know what it tells me is Gregory said like the only tangible thing we got in any of his press conferences is that he did mention a few times teams are playing big we’re gonna we could play two big guys i don’t rule out at some point various spots of the season injuries things of that nature where the Suns have to start both guys Malawatch and Mark Williams 7 foot i don’t mean this negatively i will rule that out that would be a ridiculous thing to do sure sure my point only is they have talked about the two bigs they want to get bigger they want to get stronger they do not want to be pushed around and the Suns were soft last year so I would agree with you but a guy who averages a double double 15 and 10 i think the Suns team as well is putting really big emphasis on rebounding the freaking basketball and I think and I’m not sure if this is we can talk about this later if we need to but Mark Williams and uh uh Malawatch both guys shoot fairly well from the free throw line so that leads me to believe as well maybe the Suns are going to turn one of these guys into shooters and that wasn’t you know my original thought i saw that from uh Sam Cooper of the Timeline podcast i thought that was really interesting as well so I like the deal because looking back at it a few months ago the Lakers gave up an unprotected first round pick and Dalton Connect for Mark Williams the Suns gave up the 29th overall pick and a protected one through five pick just in case defcon 1 happens and the Suns need to be able to get that pick back and it’s the least of like four playoff teams uh least favorable if you I don’t think the Suns would have gotten a guy better than Mark Williams at the 29th overall pick and the pick in a few years from now so I like it man i think it was a fine deal and the my last point would be Malawatch is going to play off the bench this year he’s very raw get a guy that some people comp him to like you did just a second ago with Mark Williams um allow him to be mentored under that guy a bit and give Devin Booker a win now player to keep them competitive that was a mouthful but that was my reaction to it what about you man i don’t mean to film yeah and I appreciate you going back and and filling in the trade cuz I didn’t fully say it it’s Yeah it’s the 29th pick this tonight which they didn’t use that became Leam McNeely who will play for the Hornets and become the Dalton Connect that they wanted and and then the 2029 pick of the Cleveland Utah the worst of those two teams firsts that the Suns acquired at the deadline this past year when they split the 2031 pick into three so yeah talk about mouthful that’s a mouthful but that’s what they sent and Vasameich so they did save a little bit of money they did another trade with the center with the Hornets they’ve now gotten Richards sent them Nerkich and now gotten Mark Williams and Vasamichi spent four months in Phoenix and now is headed back with his salary needing to be guaranteed for this deal back to the Hornets where he came from overseas to to start playing actually no I guess he was started with the Thunder but you know what I mean so that’s the deal as far as what I thought about it yeah um yeah I don’t think I don’t think that it’s reasonable to play both together but I also think it’s given that the alternatives were Nick Richards who we all saw for 6 months four months whatever and didn’t love and that Oso you know may or may not even be a center ideally or has to be in a very specific situation not somebody you wanted to rely on i feel good now that this is 48 minutes of massive center play that I like right like that’s that’s a good thing to have so even if they don’t play together even if they don’t develop as shooters you could do worse in terms of that was a position to need and you answered it resoundingly now in terms of the value in terms of the kind of next thing like I hate to be this guy one you know I think there was reason to be excited that Mark Williams could be could develop well with Luca Donuch throwing him lobs the way that we saw Gaffford and Lively really explode and on a more veteran team and things like that mark Williams we we saw firsthand he had one game where he was just you know beasting against the Suns had like a 2020 game or whatever then the other game there were it was a lowlight reel there was Kevin Durant was manipulating this dude like toying with him on cuts and and things like that and he does not have the level of defensive awareness that he needs to have to be a defensive anchor right now in the NBA so yeah he’s going to start he’ll be good i would think he’ll be better than Nick Richards this is not a guy that is like plug in and you have a good center now he is a project too he is developing too and so that brings me to the part of it that I think compounds my questions here about the overall plan the overall idea of this is he’s already extension eligible and next summer he’ll be a restricted free agent so it’s nice to say that now I I am curious if this lasts longer than one year before it starts to become you got to make a decision for the long term that’s that’s what I would say I’m worried about with this more than anything is does he develop fast enough to be able to make a good decision about an extension or a new contract for him without feeling like you’re rolling the dice on a guy who’s still a project or do they already have to shake things up again next year and then we’re talking about a rental or what’s the next move or what’s you know what I that that part of it is is looming over this in a way that makes me a little uneasy yeah to me man um I I I hear your concerns really i do i think the Suns because of uh because of also the guy that they drafted i think the Suns understand that they’re trying to compete this year as well to what to what extent I don’t know not champions not Western Conference Finals teams but I think this as well plays a huge factor in Devin Booker and his future like we’re showing you we’re committed to winning as well as what I really like about it too you mentioned that restricted free agent next year restricted free agent Suns can make a decision on an offer sheet with anyone i understand your concerns to be honest with you my biggest concern with Mark Williams is the injury history which we you know kind of kind of harped on a little bit but that is the biggest issue for me when it comes to him because I’ve played the injury game over the past couple years i didn’t love it so the Suns obviously health staff’s going to be tested here with this guy but I think again a lob threat we don’t know why he failed his physical right i like I’ve never really seen it was this body part or this lingering thing like I’m sure the behind the scenes the Lakers the Hornets probably the Suns now they know what the injury was i’m not saying nobody knows but from me just analyzing it I agree with you that that’s a big question mark and if it’s a lower body thing and he’s 72 I mean it’s it’s going to be hard to shy away or ignore that and it could make other teams skeptical about giving this guy an extension maybe the Suns see that they can build this guy up under Jordan Knot and maybe he plays 75 games this year and teams are like “What guy are we getting?” The Suns actually know and maybe they get a bargain on him like I see this more as a positive than I do a negative because I like for even if it’s one year man giving Malawatch a guy to be mentored under and I really like Booker mentored is Mark Williams a professor now we don’t we we just say that when there’s older guy younger guy okay he’s going to learn from him I have no idea Mark Williams has to want to do that he’s vying for his next contract he’s playing less than half of his NBA games so why would why would we just assume oh plug these two guys in together the one who happens to be four years older will just inherently then teach the younger one it’s like I’m I’m saying the same thing with KD oh Jabari Smith Jr is just going to learn from KD cuz they’re on the same team i have no idea i don’t know that that happens everybody has to want that to happen come on Malawatch has to want to be taught i mean all these things are those are all just random assumptions we can’t I I can’t I’m not saying you’re wrong but I can’t build that into I can’t build that into evaluating the trade is my point i can’t say “Oh the trade’s extra good because he’s going to teach Malawatch.” I have no clue if that’s going to happen there you go that you’re It’s fine that’s a good point i hear your concerns i think they’re valid concerns but overall I like Mark Williams being added to this team put him at the center position and it I believe it is a massive upgrade over what they had now and potentially 100% we’ll see with Nick Richards maybe this makes a deal possible where you’re moving Grayson Allen somewhere and you’re also moving OS Gadaro like before we can judge this deal I think we learned this with the Kevin Durant trade the other day right we said let’s see what they do with the 10th overall pick i don’t know how everyone else is feeling but I’m feeling a little bit better about that Kevin Durant deal today now listen they still got the better player but I feel better about it let’s see what the Suns do maybe they package Grayson Allen and Oso Wiggodaro and they get more picks back and then you’re like “All right one pick and I’ve got uh Osoaro’s replacement and Mark Williams and uh Malawatch as well.” Like I I think we need to take a little bit of time before we judge this a little hard let’s let’s wait and see how other things pan out and then in a couple of months we can go after them if it doesn’t work out which we will and these are the these are the types of risks that you have to take we’re not talking about you know you’re not you know investing in the stock market with Warren Buffett’s treasure trove or you’re not you know you don’t have a royal flush in your hand trying to play at a poker table this is this is depleted assets desperation moves this is what this offseason was going to be for the Suns so I agreed if if you were to say you know hey they have this weird split pick that they did with the with the the Jazz and the Cavs thing and they got KD on a one-year deal at 37 and they got all these little random things that they have to try to turn into a team a real team that can at least be respectable next season you got to take some risks you got to get a guy who has health concerns you got to you know take a dude who has overlap positionally at 10 and try to build Jaylen Green up and all these sorts of things that’s just that’s just what it is right now for this team i have something that I want to circle back on that you said about Mark Williams there too that I think will get us to the rest of the off season about the improvement this season that being the best they could have done or could they have done better was this the move to get Williams to answer that problem to fill that hole next First today’s brought to you show is brought to you by our friends at Skiims when we found out here on the Locked On podcast network look a lot of dudes hosting shows i’m 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physically feeling comfortable feeling right matching what you need to match shopkins.com let them know we sent you by selecting podcast in the survey try it for yourself and select our show in the dropown menu when you make that purchase again to let them know we sent you all right Ben final segment we got a lot to get to drop your questions as I My little comment said 175 from the chat since I last switched over i appreciate I am uh I am uh your comment your comments if you have a question you think we’re going to forget them I am looking through them i am starring them if you have a question we will answer them at the end and uh we will answer the age-old question of who is taller between me and Brenton oh okay someone asked that or are we just going there um I think I saw between Malawatch and Mark Williams malawatch I think malawatch dude he’s listed as taller i can’t wait to see both of the like the not You know what screw that i’m excited i’ll let you get to the thing you were going you were teasing before that but like I’m excited to see this team walk through the tunnel and be like “God this team got bigger holy hell there’s a lot less Taius Jones and Bradley Beals on this team and a lot more also playing center.” Yeah yeah like Yeah yeah i You almost made me want to go into another point but I’m going to let you do your thing my question to circle back on one other thing you said about Mark Williams here is that you said you know it’s a really good solution to an obvious problem that they had and I agree it is of course it’s better than Oso it’s better than Nick Richards it’s better than Nerk you know whatever on down the line Mason Plumbley Drew Eubanks whatever you want to say is it the best they could have done if you know factoring in value right like they had to give up more here they gave up two first round picks they’re probably not great firsts 2027 we’ll see or 2029 sorry I should say we’ll see but uh you know we talked about could they get somebody on the taxpayer mid level could they get you know Kaulk Brener at 29 for example could they trade Grayson for somebody there was so many different versions of trying or you know I’ve seen some questions in the chat already of like the different centers we theoretically were thinking they had a chance at in the Kevin Durant trade this is the path now this is how they got their center do you do you like it or you could have just rolled in with Malawatch and Nick Richards i So like how do you feel about it from that standpoint the the resources that they allocated to get Mark Williams as the the kind of ultimate decision on plugging this hole we’ve been talking about for months yes I think this was the best that they could do and I’m going to be honest with you I think this was way better than what I thought they could do because of the assets they have williams is a question mark because of the injuries and because of the looming contract extension next year that you had mentioned as well but I don’t I’m not buying into this idea that the Suns gave up a lot for him so if I’m answering that question yeah I do kind of think so because I look around the league for centers i mean you weren’t going to get Zubot Joic Embiid Anthony Davis like this guy I think is in the like if we’re ranking the top 30 centers top top 30 starting centers he’s in the the top third he’s probably nine or 10 or eight but I look around and I’m like I don’t think you could have gotten any of the other guys ahead of him and this was their biggest concern so I’ll say yes and then I’ll let you answer your own question i think it’s all going to come down to the con the next contract for him truly you know you’re talking about like okay we saw the KD trade and then you had to wait until today to see what they did at 10 and you know now with this I think to me the incomplete part of this is that is the contract part of it like if he we just saw Daniel Gaffer get $20 million for a team that already has two other centers on it and Anthony Davis and Dererick Lively and they still gave him 20 million part of that’s because I think we all still assume they’ll trade him eventually but you know I think Mark Williams is going to get paid a lot of money i think he’s going to get paid 2530 million next next year if he can especially if he can stay relatively healthy play 60 games or something i don’t think they’re going to extend him right now because I just don’t think you can run that risk with the health concerns but if he plays the majority of games and plays well and this team is respectable next season he’s going to get paid a lot of money and that’s going to that’s going to hinge because you know they’re not keeping these two guys for for the next 10 years that’s just not happening so one of them’s gone somehow is my is my view of this i I they’re going to trade one of them for something else eventually and the the the thing that would that would jeopardize getting a good getting a good situation with whatever has to to move eventually on this would be if you get into a situation where you’re overpaying now I know I’m way ahead of myself but you have to think about that they just swung two massive moves in a huge inflection point day for the organization and they went all in on the same exact player as a clone that’s a weird thing to do and it has to make you think about the future cuz I don’t think they can play together so for this year sure i don’t know if it’s all I don’t know if it’s the best they could have done i’ll have to answer that question I guess when I see the taxpayer mid-level guys like if Horford actually goes for that amount of money I would have kind of liked Horford if I’m being honest we don’t really know what they could have gotten in the Kevin Durant trade so I was kind of throwing a hypothetical that was unanswerable at you to be a little you know tease but like I I don’t hate it for this season would be my answer to my own question but it’s impossible to not make it about more than that i am a fan of calculated risks and I don’t think the risk is that huge for Mark Williams because again the stipulations of the pick that they sent they sent Liam McNeely effectively who good player I mean I don’t know maybe he does turn into something more but he was never going to be a Sun guy and kind of looking at the like Drake Powell we both really liked him he was gone at 22 so I have to combine the pick that tonight was surprising that was it surprising you and I both really liked him i think it just means you and I think it just means you and I did a pretty good job of scouting this year in terms of Yeah him and Carter Bryan only went what uh eight picks apart like I was kind of teasing yesterday yeah such a good point by you such a good point but either way um I’m a fan of the calculated risk and because of what they gave up for Mark Williams I’m going to choose it to see like to to see it like this tonight i’m willing to do the the later on things later on if Mark Williams is awesome hell yeah give the dude an extension malawatch continues to develop in case everyone forgets he’s 18 freaking years old and he’s here for the long term and then yeah eventually they will move on from from uh Mark Williams if uh when Malawatch comes into his own and then the other thing is like okay if he stinks there’s another avenue what if Malawatch takes a massive leap this year and then you’re talking about you have a starting center there maybe you can sign and trade Mark Williams another direction you still get assets back it’s not a there’s other it can be a doomsday scenario it absolutely can be but because of what they gave up I’m going to choose to say because of the calculated risks I was okay with the Suns doing that you know what I wouldn’t have been okay with if they passed on Malawatch at 10 and did someone else because I was already getting ready for my rant of you don’t get to take these big of risks yet you haven’t deserved it and I think that risk definitely worth it especially when you compare it to what the Lakers gave up which was a mid first round pick I think connect was the 17th overall pick and an unprotected first round pick I don’t know where the Lakers are going to be in the future I believe it was 29 or 31 their own protected I think it might have been I mean Luka will only be what like 30 by then so it’s probably not going to be like some kind of amazing pick but it’s unprotected which makes sense i said Cleveland and Utah to me and I meant to also include that pick that the Suns are giving up in 2029 it’s the least favorable of those two teams as well as Minnesota who has Anthony Edwards and it’s probably going to be good for a while so um it’s it’s the Suns pick is just almost sure to be pretty bad and one of those three teams is gonna be decent you know and um just to just to like throw that out there just throw something out there as well like this is dumb but it is top five protected like let’s say they all suck the Suns still get the pick if it’s a top five protected pick i won’t worry about that either i think it’s going to be a 29 28 30 pick i’d rather all three of the teams are in the top five for that it would I’m Listen I am 100% agreeing with you it’s probably not going to happen but if in case because we’re talking doomsday scenarios sure they they did cover their butt a little bit so yeah yeah man so to me um okay ne next steps off of that one well one last question on this whole this whole saga do you think that they had the Mark Williams thing done and then Malawatch fell and then they just said F yes yeah i think it’s exactly what happened should they have pivoted off of the Mark Williams thing when Malawatch fell i think it was already done and I’m going to be honest with you I probably I I I can’t lie to you i probably would have backed off of it this that Mark Williams gets untraded again yeah Mark Williams was definitely a Oh crap Malaw Malawatch really fell to us but okay so but like it wasn’t that unlikely that Malawatch would fall it wasn’t like he was supposed to go third so it felt pretty if that’s what happened then that feels a little frustrating but we don’t know it’s a It’s kind of There’s so many whatifs even within that question that I’m not going to like hammer them for it but to me it’s I guess Yeah but if it is what happened and all that was holding them back was being like good negotiators with Charlotte or something that that shouldn’t have mattered i would just I would have just said “Sorry Hornets we’re not doing the deal sorry Mark Williams agent sorry Hornets it’s not happening.” Um if it happens if it happened and just so you just so we’re clear I agree with you i think Well I don’t I don’t know if you agree with this or not but I I do think I’m sure Gamble will report on it tomorrow but I I do think that Malawash fell into their lap and they’re like “We have to take this kid.” So a Mark Williams agent is not Mark Bartlescene by the way just in case anyone was wondering um I just felt like I would just share it with everybody did he go to a Michigan State basketball game this year maybe you never know uh he was out there in what I guess he was in ACC country not really oh man they’re being Someone’s being mean to you they said you’re a killjoy i just think you’re being I’m I chose and I told you before the show I was going to be the positive let’s go let’s celebrate tonight and we’ll get to it tomorrow and I appreciate you playing the level-headed role tonight i think we needed that just so I think that actually speaking to the chat that somebody animal put in here that that Malawatch has said that they he already has a relationship with Mark Williams i like that that makes me feel better about some of the you know you know teaching mentorship stuff that we were kind of debating a minute ago but okay a few questions off this one nick Richards he is guaranteed zero dollars this upcoming season we had assumed that it was a shoe in that they would just keep him because they didn’t have anybody else now they do his deadline is the 29th which is four days from now do you think that they keep him on do you think they guarantee that money and secondly do you think he’s on the roster nick Richards I’m sorry I didn’t hear that first part because I was looking to say Nick Richards i I don’t I don’t think there’s a world Nick Richards is here next year okay okay so do they cut him or trade him i think they’re going to have to trade him and hopefully there’s value that they can get back now now let’s call Now here’s here’s that part of it and again I don’t want to take 15 minutes answering a singular question but other teams might know what had just happened i I saw that too i couldn’t find it um other teams might know what just happened and be like why would we give you anything you’re about to cut him but if the Suns could get back recoup at least one of those second round picks that they traded for Nick Richards um I’d be okay with it because I was never the biggest fan of Nick Richards and I think other teams will see him as a serviceable backup um and I like Oso Gdaro more and I know that they don’t necessarily play the same role but I’d rather keep Oso here than than Nick but uh I will say that he will get traded you I hope they can find a trade i think that they’ll try like hell to to find one in the next four days and if they don’t find one that they like they just cut him you know you don’t think you don’t you don’t think he can get a second rounder one i think they can find that center is a pretty loaded position around the NBA um except except for in Phoenix it is now we’re loaded now baby even then a bunch of them have come through here they just can’t get it to freaking work but okay then that’s one thing out of the way i think that the other thing to get to is to me this makes it even more pertinent for the Suns and and urgent for the Suns to get another playmaker on this roster um you know I I would have prefer it feels like now we can probably say that they’re not going to have even a spacing option at the center spot you know this is probably going to be the 48 minutes of center that we’re going to see for the healthy Suns unless unless and I mentioned this before they see one of these guys as a as a future stretch pick one of them I would lean towards Malawatch well but not this year they’re not neither one of them’s going to shoot this year would be my assumption right i don’t think they’re going to shoot consistently this year but I think they’re going to try to slowly form one of those guys to it where I think by the end of the year maybe one of them is taking more threes but I don’t think they’re going to be like gunning you’re right like two a night i don’t think that’s going to be the case even then I’m only going I don’t think Malawatch is likely to do it but Mark Williams is definitely not going to become a shooter i I was going to say we can just we can just stop that he played for two years he’s been in the NBA for three years he’s not going to suddenly become a shooter in his fifth year of advanced basketball if I was picking one I’d say Malawatch 2 just so we’re clear i I would Okay I would agree so if we say that then I think you just need a playmaker because these guys are rim runners everybody got excited with Mark Williams oh he gets to play with Luca cool well Suns don’t have anybody close to that in terms of a pick and roll passer jaylen Green’s definitely not that player book people have always kind of teased him a little bit for not being a lob passer he just that’s just not really a skill that he has for whatever reason maybe it’ll come now that they have a guy to throw it to and Chris Paul’s not having to run the offense i’m sure Book is not a zero in that department but they should have another playmaker so is that bringing uh Monte Morris back that’s not exactly like a a pure passer either tyus Jones potentially we saw some in the chat i I really would be opposed to that personally i just don’t think it’s worth doing i’m out the defense was so bad and I just don’t think it’s worth it i would try for somebody a little younger personally if I could sure i mean yeah I’d agree with you but I mean you said the name so I’m just going to ask you what about Chris Paul would you be opposed to him i don’t hate the idea of Chris Paul coming back i also just think people are underounting that Colin Gillespie is going to play a ton of minutes at the point for this team this season i mean might tell you what they think of him might even if it’s just as a backup like Gambo was alluding to this on the radio today he he mentioned this i think it’s true um he played well enough bud just seemed to hate him for no good reason i I think that he should be playing he should at least be getting minutes and I think was Yeah exactly i don’t know how Colin Gillespie is particularly as like a pick and roll passer either i’m not going to say that I do he didn’t really play that way in Denver suns didn’t really play that way last year but I think he he’s going to be an option there um I’m sorry i just read stupid comment i just read someone’s stupid comment that came up sorry uh the other thing I’m kind of seeing in the chat that I think is worth talking about right now would be Grayson Allen um yeah I’ve got I’ve got a few of those starred i don’t know if you see that in the thing but I have them starred some of the questions in there uh so I I think like you mentioned it a second ago I think combining Oso with any of these trades we’re talking about now is a real possibility i know people like him and I like him i think he could be a good player in the NBA but we’re already saying what are they going to do with Nick Richards and then you get to Oso i just don’t see where there’s going to be minutes for Oso Gadaro next year and he’s going to be 24 next season like you know it’s probably better to try to see if you can get some value in a trade at this point with him and sell high a little and you know fork over your center rotation to the guys you just acquired so I I think he could definitely be added in with picks added in with Grayson added in with Royce or Beal to get a trade done um and I love that i like Oso i do like Oso but I know the ceiling on Oso Agaro um maybe an eighth man on a championship winning team i think tops seventh man um if I could get a first round pick back for Grayson and Oso because someone’s like “Oh okay grayson’s shooting and I kind of get a young guy in Oso.” That’s kind of fun like if I could get that back which I think is very plausible or flip those two guys for a point guard yeah yeah I’d do it i’m not trading Ryan Dunn like I’m not moving off of that but I mean Oso I’d do it so for sure I would I would uh I’d move OSO would you do like Grayson and Oso for Patrick Williams in a first that’s the contract for Patrick Williams yeah I think I would i think I probably would do that too first round it actually gives them a power forward i I know he’s probably like a lost cause and whatever maybe not though but he’s an actual four and they need that they very badly need that and that’s kind of the last thing I was going to close on which is why I I brought that trade up is they needed forwards we thought they would at least get one tonight between 10 and 29 they ended up getting two centers so you know they have 52 and 59 on Thursday they have the 5 seconds from the Rockets trade some of which we assume that they might try to use with Beal especially now that they have one fewer first to attach to Beal but whatever way they do it I would hope that whether it’s a trade or maybe the taxpayer MLE although that’s not really high enough salary to bet on getting anybody all that great with or with the draft you know trading up tomorrow whatever it might look like they gota they got to have a a bite at the apple of a of a forward with some upside who they get on this roster this off season uh they they can’t I mean they Mark Williams can’t get 25 rebounds a night and Ryan Dunn is not ready to to be that for a for a competent team so that’s a huge need still he wasn’t a good rebounder last year he does a lot of things ryan Dunn’s a great promising player rebounding is not one of those things so plug him in as your full-time four you’re going to be giving stuff up so it’s it’s a big it’s a big need right now and I’m curious how they solve it can I can I just I mean we’ll I mean I mean I know you don’t want to be super long but there’s a couple of these questions in here um re really quickly I don’t know if asking who should we pick for 52nd and 59 like we don’t we don’t know so let’s do this do you have a guy in the second round because I think you and I are still both of the belief the Suns are going to package those two picks to move up do you have a guy that you’re like interesting and I think we’re gonna say the same guy uh well Kriner didn’t get picked right nope and Theiero didn’t get picked theiero did not get picked so those two guys did Reo get picked i don’t think he did maxim Reo did not get picked unless he got picked super early i’ve got it in front of me no he didn’t uh they the Clippers took Neerhouser who I didn’t even literally had never heard of him um Penn State guy first ever uh first round pick from Penn State ever dropped some knowledge on and then Danny Wolf went 27th so that kind of ended up his slide ended up swallowing up one of the big man spots toward the end of the first round so those three names I mean they’re guys we had already talked about so I think they would No near the top of my list yeah penda Penda’s a four for sure so so I I’ll say Penda or Adu Aduierro um you and I have talked about him we literally talked about them in the last show so we don’t have to go super d if you want want us to hear about them go to the literally the last show we just did before this um no more ball team player so Williams on the last year of his contract we answered that yes restricted free agent uh at the end of this year um do you want to move Bull to the four i mean wasn’t he already a four is going to be on this team next year yeah okay so let’s answer that question i don’t think he’s here next year do you well he’d be I guess one of the spacing center options but I don’t think he’s a center i agree with you he already was a four he’s been a four for most of the time he’s been with the Suns he played next to Nerk a lot he played next to Eubanks a lot he played next to Richards even so yeah he’s a he’s a four we we we did talk about this but I’ll just mention it uh I think I I would just say you and I both I think believe Oso Wiggodaro I guess the mention for the audio audience are OSO and Nick gone now oso Gadaro I think you and I could both see him be gone nick Richards as well we mentioned that we could see him be gone um I mean this could be a question of both of us i think they just added me because I literally tweeted in there do you think Taius would be better if he came back now that we have Mark and Malawich no um yeah i I don’t I just don’t think it’s the it’s a necessary option for the Suns it’s not like I the team is going to be in a much different place this upcoming season to where Taius Jones limitations you know you’re not talking about him holding them back from the big three fitting or you know making the championship round or anything but like still he’s he’s he is what he is i would rather devote those resources to somebody who could potentially get better and I know I said Monte Morris he’s not going to get better he’s older than Taius but you know I like Gillespie getting minutes i would like to see if they could get somebody else who is more in that age range uh or just like somebody who’s legit just like Chris Paul just you know fullon minimum super old vet type guy like if you know if Mike Connley were available and he’s not that that’s Malcolm Brogden I’ve mentioned as like could they get him on the taxpayer mid level like that that type of thing if if they can’t go young almost 500 people in the chat uh but the age-old question still reigns how does this team logically get rid of Beal if we had the answer we would be in the Suns office but I think we’re both in agreement that he can’t be here next year still waiting on specifics of all the people who tell us that he is movable uh we’ll see um I mean I know people are looking at the Bulls the Wizards the you know maybe the Hornets again we just you know just keep seeing Suns Hornets trades we’ll see but uh yeah if you as good as mine chatter from uh you know it’s true what’s your ideal pass first point guard you want that’s actually getable i know we kind of mentioned this but do you have one that comes to mind right away i think for me uh just really quick I think I think I’d say Chris Paul actually because I think he you could get him on a vet minimum but I I don’t want to spend a ton of money there yeah I think I’ll just say Brogden who I mentioned a minute ago okay um I think that’s it for now anyone that missed out missed out man little or little Q&A session there which I liked we’ll have one more episode five of almost hopefully with Zack yeah we appreciate all of you guys hopefully Zack tell us a little bit more about Malawatch maybe uh help us make sense of whoever the Suns do get in the second round and it’s just getting started there’s going to be fireworks i mean Mark Williams came out of absolutely nowhere i don’t think that name had come out of my mouth since February when Luca almost got him and now he’s a member of this team so that tells you everything you need to know we’ll have plenty of episodes getting you guys up to date on all of it for the rest of June into July enjoy round two tomorrow and we’ll catch you right afterward

The Phoenix Suns added 14 feet of centers on Wednesday night during the NBA Draft, selecting Khaman Maluach 10th overall and acquiring Mark Williams in a trade.

Brendon Kleen and Ben Garcia break down every angle of a HUGE night for the Suns.

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