Oso Ighodaro Connecting The Hard-Playing Suns
For all the star power and headliners that the NBA has, there isn’t nearly enough appreciation for the glue guys. In his sophomore season as a pro, Oso Ighodaro is showing that he can be that player for the Phoenix Suns.
“He just connects,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott told R.org in his pregame press conference in Cleveland on New Year’s Eve. “He just kinda fills some gaps. We often forget it’s only his second year. Oso’s been great.”
Hearing Ott’s praise, Ighodaro cracked a smile and provided his definition of a connector.
“Somebody that gets other people involved, just keeps the action continuous, just doesn’t let the ball die,” Ighodaro told R.org in an exclusive interview. “If he’s saying that, that’s probably good. It’s a good indicator. But yeah, I think that’s something I take pride in.”
Ighodaro does the quintessential little things.
Being proficient in freeing up his teammates is one example. There are only 12 players in the NBA with at least 100 screen assists, and amidst that list, only Marvin Bagley III and Luke Kornet have played fewer total minutes than him. Setting those picks has created 271 points overall, the eighth-most in the league.
Ighodaro’s instincts as a passer are impressive. A sound decision-maker, he’s able to leave it for shooters on the perimeter on handoffs in one motion, use either hand to swing it off the catch, and time pocket passes for cutters.
“I think I’ve been blessed to play for some really good coaches, so that’s helped,” Ighodaro said of his basketball IQ. “Since high school, I feel like I’ve been just learning constantly.”
Ott trusts him to bring the ball up and initiate possessions, and the pace on his right-to-left crossover freezes defenses just long enough for his teammates to get open. Ighodaro’s natural fluidity screams “polished,” and he hasn’t even played in a hundred games yet.
“Just having the ball in my hands a little bit more, especially with the second unit,” Ighodaro continued. “Getting into different actions than it is with the first unit.”
Though Ighodaro runs the two-man game with anybody, it’s hard to ignore the chemistry he has with Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin, and Ryan Dunn. Out of the 386 four-man combinations in the NBA that have played at least 100 minutes together, the Suns’ quartet has the third-best net rating (28.6) among the league.
Gillespie was ironically one of the teammates who, during the interview, chimed in from his adjacent locker to speak up on Ighodaro’s rebound-and-push mentality in transition. Their coach offered plenty of praise on his capabilities, too.
“Offensively, he’s able to handle against some pressure when we lack a little ball-handling at times,” Ott added. “He’s been able to increase his offensive rebounding, which we’re big in the possession game.”
The Suns grab 31.7% of their own misses with Ighodaro on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass. To Ott’s point, that’s up seven percent from his rookie campaign.
Defensively, there’s been a shift as well. It’s not from an effectiveness standpoint; it’s schematic.
“Being more active,” Ighodaro said. “Last year, we played a lot of drop, but now, I’m more up with switching and doing different things. On both ends, doing a little bit more.”
When he is on the court, Phoenix is a better team on that side of the ball, allowing just 110.0 points per 100 possessions on a 51.6% effective field goal percentage; those statistics are in the 89th and 88th percentiles in the NBA. Opponents are turning over 16.7% of their possessions.
“We can do a variety of things,” Ott added. “He’s just so versatile. We can stay in coverage, we can switch, he can rebound. That’s some of the areas where we’ve tried to enhance his game, but he’s just taken steps.”
The Next Challenge
In his first year, Ighodaro only suited up for three games in the G League with the Valley Suns. That’s rare for a 40th overall draft pick. Clearly, the organization valued his smarts from the jump.
Phoenix wasn’t afraid to throw the Marquette alum into the mix right away, and he saw a lot of action in the first few months. But from mid-January to mid-March, Ighodaro was not in then-head-coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation before finishing out the season as an everyday fixture.
Under Ott, he’s almost matched the number of 20-plus minute games that he had as a rookie.
“I think last year, when it was spot minutes, I was just giving everything I got,” Ighodaro said. “And now, [I’m] playing a little bit longer stretches, trying to maintain that same level of play just for my entire stretch I’m in the game. I’m definitely being asked to do a little bit more this year, so I’m trying to do all that while maintaining all the effort and intensity.”
As someone who provides a spark with a full gas tank, it will take some time to adjust.
“You can do it for 12, 15. Now you’ve got to do it for 28, ’cause he is undersized,” Ott said. “He’s always gonna have to be an energetic and active, and aggressive player. You can’t coast. You can’t just monitor yourself to get through the game.
“You’ve got to go all out, all the time – ’cause this is the NBA – ehen you’re gonna be undersized, you’re gonna be undermanned. For now, he’s a young player that doesn’t have a ton of experience, so you’ve got to go all out every second.”
Getting ahead of the curve for an increased workload, Ighodaro attacked the offseason.
“I think I spent a lot of time working on my body, gaining weight, gaining muscle,” Ighodaro said. “I played a lot of pickup this summer; I thought that was really good for me, just being in those game situations.”
“He had a great summer,” Ott said. “He added a ton of strength. Now, it’s just taking more and more steps. He just needs time. He needs opportunity, needs time, and he’s getting better, which is super exciting for us.”
The Difference a Year Makes
Just one season removed from an unacceptable 36-46 outcome, the Suns have garnered a reputation around the NBA that indicates a different result will come about in 2026.
“They play harder than anybody,” Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “That’s what I see. I’m not at the game, but it jumps off the page… I think it was Jordan’s first goal when he came in, that’s what you do, ‘We’re going to be the most competitive team in the league.’ And I’d give them an A+ for that because that’s certainly what it looks like.”
Ott hopes that his work ethic as a coach reaches the players he works with.
“I just don’t know any other way,” Ott said. “You’ve got to be authentic to yourself, whoever you are, in any leadership position, can’t fake it when you get there. So I think that’s what I just try to do, try to be myself every day. Kenny’s the hardest-working dude, so it’s pretty easy when you work under hard-working people and see success. But that’s just kind of who I am.
“That’s what the building’s about. That’s what our ownership’s about. That’s what our management group’s about. That’s what the players are about. [Devin Booker], Dillon [Brooks], these guys are incredibly hard workers, and now we’re all together and you just try to fortify each other and you bring some young guys along, and that’s what we’re trying to do – trying to build it from the ground up.”
He’s doing something right because the message is being delivered to the 23-15 Suns – and strongly.
“I think from Day 1 that’s just been on the front of our minds,” Ighodaro said. “That’s something that we’re gonna do each and every night with our habits. I think we’ve really bought into that, and I think that we know that’s our only way to win games. I feel like we have to play hard every night, and we’ve been doing that.”