Suns Strike Last-Minute Extension With Homegrown Center Before Regular Season

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns have reportedly agreed to a long-term contract extension with one of their key players just a few days before Wednesday's season opener.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on X:

"Phoenix Suns center Oso Ighodaro has agreed to a three-year, $29 million contract extension through the 2030-31 season, his agent Erika Ruiz of Primera Sports tells ESPN.

"The Suns are picking up Ighodaro's $2.5M team option for 2027-28, so the extension starts in 2028 and runs through 2031 for the franchise's second-round find who has established into a reliable center."

The deadline for rookie extensions is on Monday, and Ighodaro was eligible for a maximum four-year, $92.8 million extension, so this is a very favorable deal for Phoenix

Ighodaro is now under contract longer than any other player on Phoenix's roster, through the 2030-31 season.

Ighodaro was one of three Suns players eligible for an extension entering the season, along with Miles Bridges and Jalen Green, and he said last week that he was in discussions with the team about an extension and "for sure" wanted to remain with the Suns.

More on Oso Ighodaro's Extension

The Suns have been very high on Ighodaro, who is from Phoenix and went to Desert Vista High School, after drafting him in the second round in 2024, and he has become a key part of Jordan Ott's system.

Last year in his second season, Ighodaro appeared in all 82 regular-season contests and started 24 of them, as well as all four of Phoenix's playoffs games, and averaged 6.5 points on 65.3% shooting, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 22 minutes per game on the year.

Ighodaro has been in a competition with Khaman Maluach for the starting center position this season after Mark Williams, who signed a new three-year, $38 million contract with the Suns over the summer, suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder, which is expected to sideline him multiple months.

"We know he's an elite defender, he's an elite possession gainer," Ott said of Ighodaro earlier in training camp (via The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin). "Offensively, we want him to be more aggressive. We have such team guys, and he's one of those guys that almost enjoys passing more than scoring, so just finding that balance.

"His speed and his ability to connect offensively, both I'll just continue to highlight. He's only a third-year player, and he's going to only get better."

Ighodaro's basketball IQ has stood out since he was drafted and made him a unique player at the center position.

"He's a thinker. He has such speed, and he's so strong and fast, at times, I feel like he's out there thinking the game. We've got to get him just to play more," Ott said.

"I think he has two (college) degrees hanging up in his place, so it's not surprising he's excelled at different areas of our game so fast because he is so intelligent."

Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Collin Gillespie are all signed with the Suns through the end of the 2029-30 season, and now Ighodaro becomes the latest key culture piece to be locked up for the future.