Suns Trading For Lakers Target Mark Williams and Drafting Center at No. 10 Baffles Fans: “What Are The Suns Doing?”

Phoenix Suns landed the No. 10 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft after trading away Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets.

Suns Trading For Lakers Target Mark Williams and Drafting Center at No. 10 Baffles Fans: “What Are The Suns Doing?”

Phoenix Suns traded for Mark Williams and drafted Khaman Maluach (Image via FirstSportz)

The Phoenix Suns just landed the No. 10 overall pick after sending superstar Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. Fans of the franchise were relieved that they finally had a draft pick that would allow them to select a standout player for the future.

Basketball fans watched Cooper Flagg go 1st overall and then Ace Bailey unexpectedly go to the Utah Jazz, even though he declined to work out for them and did not project them as a team he wanted to go to.

Then, as the next few players went off the board, there was some assumption that the Suns would select Flagg’s teammate at Duke, Khaman Maluach. He is a 7′ 1″ center with a 7′ 5″ wingspan. The 19-year-old screams raw potential and could be a core piece down the line.

The Suns also held the No. 29 overall pick. With that, they could have added a wing or another prospective post player. Instead, they decided to trade that pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams.

Fans remember Williams as the player the Los Angeles Lakers wanted to trade for. But then, they rescinded the trade after question marks appeared over his ability to pass the physical test. They could have made him the centerpiece of their frontcourt, but decided they were better off without him.

Now the Phoenix Suns have two young centers. It is possible that they are following the strategy employed by the Minnesota Timberwolves and the newly crowned champion Oklahoma City Thunder in deploying 2 bigs.

Suns bringing in Mark Williams and Khaman Maluach stuns fans

Basketball fans knew that the Phoenix Suns traded away Kevin Durant to try and build a team that could mix it up with the best in the West. They needed help in other positions and already had the scoring prowess in the three top guards on their roster.

Khaman Maluach in tears after being drafted
Khaman Maluach in tears after being drafted (Image via Open Source/X)

Drafting Khaman Maluach with the No. 10 overall pick was a move that was generally expected. However, fans did not expect them to double down and trade for another center, especially when they have other needs. Those confused fans took to social media to ask what the Suns were doing. Examples of which are below.

Admittedly, it would take a while before Khaman Maluach is ready to play at an elite level. That could have prompted them to bring in Mark Williams to hold the fort. They also might have thought that this move could pan out in the future when their two big frontcourt players will be a handful.

Bob Myers and Stephen A. Smith baffled by Mark Williams trade

When the trade was announced by ESPN’s Shams Charania, naturally, the first to know would be the ESPN crew covering the NBA Draft live. Stephen A. Smith and Bob Myers were stunned, and the latter, as a championship-winning GM with the Golden State Warriors, said this:

They just, in a matter of 10 minutes, added two players who play the same exact position. You’ve got to be real careful overvaluing some of these guys.

Bob Myers said

Myers’ belief is from watching what transpired in the NBA playoffs. He pointed out that the Minnesota Timberwolves struggled with Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle in the Western Conference Finals. Then, the Oklahoma City Thunder did not use Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein in the NBA Finals.

That means it works in the regular season, but the playoffs are an entirely different ballgame. Along with that, Stephen A. Smith was aghast that the Phoenix Suns gave up their 2029 1st round pick when they do not have another 1st rounder to lean on for quite a while.

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