Can Phoenix Win Big Without a True Center?

The investment. Devin Booker signed a two-year, $145 million max extension, the richest annual salary in NBA history. Add Jalen Green ($36.3M) and Dillon Brooks ($20.0M) from last summer's trade for Kevin Durant, plus Miles Bridges ($22.8M), and payroll sits at $216.2 million, above the first apron.

The hole at center. Mark Williams, acquired from Charlotte in that same Durant deal, has not played since a left shoulder and arm issue surfaced September 11, with reported surgery and an estimated return of February 3, 2027. Phoenix has filled the five spot with Khaman Maluach and Duop Reath instead.

Wednesday's evidence. Reath went 3-for-10, including 2-of-8 from three, and finished minus-31 in 19 minutes as San Antonio pulled away, 123-103. Phoenix got 59 bench points to 44 from starters, a split that flatters depth more than it answers who protects the rim against real competition.

The young flashes. Phoenix exercised 2027-28 options on Ryan Dunn and Maluach this month, a vote of confidence in both. Maluach went plus-9 in just 13 minutes in Wednesday's loss, and Dunn finished 6-for-6 for 15 points. The front office is betting their growth outpaces Williams' absence.

The tax complication. Sitting above the first apron restricts how Phoenix can reshape this roster in-season; CBA hard-cap rules cut off the taxpayer mid-level exception and most sign-and-trade paths to outside help. Any fix at center likely has to come from inside this group, not a trade.

The verdict. Phoenix is spending star money on the perimeter without spending anything comparable in the middle, and the preseason has already punished that gap once. Until Williams returns in February, or Maluach's flashes turn into nightly production, center stays this roster's clearest unresolved cost.