Reath's Day-to-Day Status Leaves Phoenix's Center Situation Exactly Where It Started

Duop Reath was supposed to be the cushion. Phoenix signed him on September 17 to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal — a low-commitment hedge against the possibility that Khaman Maluach wasn't ready to carry a starting center role through the early part of a regular season. Now Reath is day-to-day as of September 26, and the cushion has a hole in it.

The sequence is worth noting plainly: Mark Williams tears his labrum, goes under the knife on September 11, and is out for an extended period. The Suns bring in Reath as a bridge. Reath promptly lands on the injury report. That leaves Maluach — a Summer League prospect the front office was hoping to ease into the league — as the most available center on the roster heading into training camp. I wrote as much on September 23, and nothing since has changed the picture.

What has changed is the margin for error. The Suns added Kennedy Chandler as a training camp body on September 27, which tells you the front office is still filling in edges, not solving center. Williams was re-signed in June precisely because Phoenix thought it had that position handled — 65.5% shooting efficiency last season, a real presence in the frontcourt. Now that plan is sitting in a sling.

Training camp opens with Maluach as the answer to a question the Suns thought they'd already answered. That's the situation.