Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams just had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, he’s going to miss an extended period of time. That means the Suns are going to be in the market for center depth, just like the Philadelphia 76ers could be. That’s more competition in a crowded market.
There aren’t that many center pieces left available in free agency. It’s slim pickin’s. Even the trade market is relatively bare because of how valuable quality centers are. And now that the Suns could be scouring the market, that means the Sixers will have yet another team fighting against them in order to snag center depth, which could make their life harder.
As Philly evaluates its backup center depth behind Joel Embiid, it could decide to target more players. But the Suns may want to sign another center now, too. It’s all about supply and demand, and the demand just got greater.
Suns could now crowd 76ers' plans on depth center market
Williams was an important piece of the puzzle in Phoenix last season. He appeared in 60 games for the Suns, starting 55 of them. Now, he’s going to miss a significant chunk of time, it seems.
Phoenix has some other centers on its roster. The Suns lost Nick Richards this summer, but they still have Khaman Maluach, who played great during Summer League, and Oso Ighodaro.
Those two guys should play plenty of minutes for the Suns, soaking up most of the playing time. But the Suns could still use some more depth behind them, as both of them are still young.
Then, taking a look at the 76ers, they don’t have great depth behind the injury-plagued Embiid. Right now, they have Ariel Hukporti and Adem Bona.
Neither of those two guys has played consistent backup center minutes, and now they are going to be tasked with being the primary backups for one of the most injury-plagued centers in NBA history.
That’s a pretty dangerous situation for the Sixers to be in, especially considering they are going to be trying to compete for a championship this season. They should also try to add more center depth.
So now that Williams is hurt, the Suns are going to be yet another team looking to sign or trade for an extra depth center. The New York Knicks could be another team trying to do the same.
There’s just another team now competing with the Sixers to see if they can snag a depth center piece.
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