Oso Ighodaro

Before we know it, it'll be week 13.

We'll be like, oh, my God.

Yeah.

What

Deep League, maybe Luke Kennard.

That's also something.

And you also maybe want to watch Osi Godar as he inserts himself back into the lineup.

Ryan Dunn as well.

Don't get me wrong.

And I don't think he should be in the starting lineup once Oso Godaro is healthy.

I just think if that starting lineup is going to be the way it is, it's not maximizing him either.

And he's not maximizing it either.

That is very true.

But that hasn't stopped the Phoenix Suns from playing a guy like Oso Ighodaro.

It comes down to will you have an impact on both ends of the floor when you get in? And I think Koa Peat will have the opportunity for that.

We've seen Rashied Fleming kind of backslide.

I, you know, the 25 million per, so this is, like, a small discount, [laughs] I guess, from OKC side of things, but, uh, now he's got to obviously step into the starting role and, and, uh, make it worth their while.

Also, Sun Center, Oso Ighodaro, has agreed to a three-year, $29 million contract extension, so that deal's not gonna kick in until the '28, '29 season.

So Oso is set to make just $2.2 million this year, and then they're having, or he will have his team option for next year, $2.4 million picked up, so this is, like, a future one here, Tas, but you're a Ighodaro fan.

Yeah, I'm an Ighodaro fan.

It's, it seems like good deals, seems like Matt Ishbia is signing good deals, and it seems like they've got a good thing going on in their locker room.

The whole organization overachieved winning 45 games last year.

I do think Kevin Malaoch is destined to be their starting center over Oso Ighodaro, so paying him as a backup would make sense when Malaoch is able to grow.

They also paid Mark Williams.

And again, I understand that per 36 is a flawed stat and to expect that somebody who averaged nine points a game or nine minutes a game, I'm sorry, last year would end up in a per 36 world, uh, holding the energy that long to conduct those stats is somewhat unrealistic, but again, it's a baseline.

So I predicate all that to say that tonight Kamon Maluach got the start, which, uh, one, Oso Ighodaro was out, and two, I think that this was like, hey, Oso got, you know, the start in the first couple games, and then we went Maluach for a couple games, and like now we're gonna try it with Maluach with the starters, with Booker and Green and Bridge to see how it looks.

Uh, and I'll say this, A-plus for Maluach tonight, man.

His defensive impact you could feel.

There's a couple times where he was using Maluach as the screener.

He was picking off to the right or to the left, and he actually had an opportunity to get Maluach the ball, but you could tell he wasn't confident in making that pass yet.

I want him to keep getting those repetitions, 'cause when you play with Maluach, you're playing with somebody who's completely different than an Oso Ighodaro, and he's gotta learn how the positioning works, what the passes look like, and then ultimately how to make those passes.

That is the Jalen Green experiment this year.

Steven, you were there at 5G today.

You got a chance to talk to a couple guys, listen to what Oso Ighodaro had to say, what Dillon Brooks said he was doing tonight and who he was looking forward to going against tonight.

And that's the first thing I'll start with, him saying he's playing tonight, Dillon Brooks said it, and him saying he's looking forward to going against Jaren Jackson Jr, one of the pieces that is why the Jazz are getting a lot of respect.

Former Grizzlies teammates, of course.

Mm-hmm.

And, you know, we'll see whether they write back or not.

But when you think about that, and, and you also spoke with Oso Ighodaro today-

Yeah