Oso Ighodaro’s rookie season exceeded expectations and set the stage for more.
Welcome to our Phoenix Suns Season in Review series, where we take a closer look at each player who suited up during the 2024–25 campaign. One by one, we’ll break down what went right, what went wrong, and what each player can do to take the next step heading into next season.
Oso Ighodaro, like Ryan Dunn, emerged as one of the unexpected revelations of the season. Drafted 40th overall, there wasn’t a clear roadmap for what he might become. Sure, the local kid flashed solid fundamentals at Marquette—you could see the footwork, the instincts, the IQ—but you never really know how that’s going to translate when the game speeds up, the air gets thinner, and the margins get crueler.
For Oso? The NBA didn’t seem too fast at all. He blended in like he belonged, even starting six games for the Suns without looking remotely overwhelmed. It was a sturdy, promising foundation for a young big man still finding his shape.
And while you might not call him a “steal” at 40th overall, some people already do. Those people aren’t wrong.
My firmest non-obvious NBA Draft take ever was that Oso Ighodaro should have been a first-round pick.
The Suns are going to benefit from having him on a very team-friendly deal for a few years because Ighodaro fell to the second round.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) January 13, 2025
Typically, that part of the draft is for fliers, for projects you hope maybe catch lightning in a bottle someday. Oso is still a project, but he’s also already carved out a role in the rotation, and that matters, especially on a roster that was painfully top-heavy and desperate for any kind of functional depth.
Oso Ighodaro
- Position: Center
- Vitals: 6’10”, 235 pounds, 22 years old
- Experience: 1 year
- Stats: 61 GP, 4.2 PPG (60.4 FG%, 58.0 FT%), 3.6 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 BLK
Contract Details
Drafted 40th overall, Oso has $6.7 million left on his contract, which is for the next three years, with the final year of his deal (2027-28) being a team option. If the Suns choose to exercise that option, he is set to become a restricted free agent in 2028-29, with Phoenix owning his Bird rights.
Regular Season Recap
Oso made his NBA debut on opening night and quickly became a semi-regular in the Suns’ rotation through the early months of the season. He had a steady November and December, appearing in 26 of Phoenix’s first 32 games and averaging 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds across 15.8 minutes a night.
For a while, it felt like the Suns might have unearthed a mainstay.
But as January gave way to February, and the Suns began slogging through a stretch of inferior competition, Oso’s production started to waver, and Mike Budenholzer, true to form, responded by banishing him to the end of the bench. He logged just five games in February, a casualty of a decision-making process where youth was no longer valued, curiosity no longer rewarded.
When he re-emerged in mid-March, Oso once again showed flashes of why he had been a rotation player in the first place. Over the final 17 games, he played in all of them, averaging 25.6 minutes, 6.6 points, and 5.2 rebounds. But the competition had stiffened. And like most of his teammates, Oso struggled to lift the team out of its tailspin.
Biggest Strength
Ighodaro flashed a range of strengths in his rookie season, the kind you traditionally want from a big man, but rarely see displayed so naturally this early. What stood out most was his basketball IQ. His ability to process the speed and complexity of the NBA game was beyond impressive.
He adjusted almost seamlessly. Every time the ball found his hands, there was a sense of calm and certainty, a feeling that he knew exactly what needed to happen next. That kind of intuitive understanding isn’t just rare for rookies; it escapes plenty of veterans, too.
Just look at this Oso Ighodaro pass pic.twitter.com/X3dmWufKGt
— Mike Vigil (@protectedpick) October 7, 2024
Oso showed an innate feel for positioning, timing, and flow—the connective tissue of good basketball. He knew where to be, when to be there, and what to do when the moment arrived. Instinctively, he just gets the game. It’s the kind of skill set that doesn’t jump off the stat sheet but will likely keep him in the NBA for a long time.
Biggest Weakness
Size. It’s the one issue Oso Ighodaro can’t really do anything about, yet it’s the thing that might define his NBA ceiling. He’s a little too small to anchor a front line as a true center, and because of his complete and utter lack of a jumper, he doesn’t have the versatility to slide over and survive as a power forward either. He’s a man caught between positions, not by fault, but by nature.
If we’re talking about his biggest weakness from a skill set standpoint, it’s without question his shooting. Right now, it’s a Bismack Biyombo-esque push shot and not much else. His jumper is practically nonexistent, and that’s going to cap his overall impact unless something drastic changes. It’s just the reality, even if it’s an unfortunate one.
Oso and the push shot… pic.twitter.com/dKyfwz0w5T
— Suns JAM Session Podcast (@SunsJAM) October 8, 2024
Likelihood of Return: 9.8
No one’s a 10, but Oso Ighodaro is pretty damn close.
Entering his second year on a rookie contract, he’s in a position where the Suns would have no reason to trade him. Even if moving him could open up cap flexibility or the ability to aggregate salaries to make another splash, it just doesn’t make sense. He’s not exactly the asset any team would target if they were looking to strike a deal with Phoenix. That role, realistically, would likely belong to the other rookie, Ryan Dunn.
Overall Grade: B
Grading Oso is tricky because I have to decide what exactly I’m grading him on. Is it his overall ability as a player, or how he measures up to my expectations for him? .
As a player, he earns a C+ based on the role he’s meant to fill. He fought his way into the rotation with foundational skills, bringing much-needed youth, athleticism, and rim running to the team. There are clear limitations on his ceiling, but his ability to process the game with such a high basketball IQ makes me confident he’ll have a place in the league for a while.
But when I shift the lens to expectations, he gets an A-. I didn’t expect much from the 40th pick, and while his Summer League showing was promising, we all know that doesn’t always translate to the NBA. I figured he’d be a back-of-the-bench guy—Mike Budenholzer clearly thought so too, given his February absence. But Oso earned his way back into the rotation when it mattered.
So, taking both grades into account, Oso finishes the season with a solid B. That’s his grade for this year. Nothing flashy, but an impressive step forward.
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