Second-year center Khaman Maluach earned the starting nod in the middle from head coach Jordan Ott in the Suns’ regular season opener on Wednesday, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic tweets.

With Phoenix’s No. 1 center, Mark Williams, expected to miss a significant portion of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, Maluach battled Oso Ighodaro during training camp and the preseason for a spot in the starting lineup. Ighodaro played well in three preseason outings and signed a new three-year extension with the Suns just before the regular season tipped off, but it’s Maluach, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft, who will open the season as the starter.

In other notable starting lineup news, the Trail Blazers – as expected – have star guards Damian Lillard and Ja Morant in their backcourt to open Wednesday’s game vs. Phoenix, tweets Rankin, with Jrue Holiday coming off the bench. And in Los Angeles, the Lakers opted to go with Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle as their starting forwards vs. Golden State, making Quentin Grimes their sixth man, per Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link).

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

• Lakers head coach JJ Redick provided a series of injury updates ahead of Wednesday’s opener, per Khobi Price of The California Post (Twitter link), telling reporters that rookie guard Cameron Carr (right oblique strain) is “ramping up” and is considered day-to-day, while forward Adou Thiero experienced some swelling in his knee and will be shut down for a couple days before being considered day-to-day as well. As for Collin Sexton, who was ruled out for Wednesday’s game due to a calf injury, Redick said the veteran guard didn’t suffer a setback and suggested the decision to have him sit was a collaborative one.
• The Timberwolves and Jaden McDaniels negotiated for weeks before agreeing to a one-year contract extension on Monday, according to Jon Krawcznyski of The Athletic, who hears from sources that the forward wants to remain in Minnesota for the rest of his NBA career, if possible. During contract talks between McDaniels and the Wolves, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and several members of the ownership group (Marc Stad, Elisa Stad, and Alex Rodriguez) made it clear to McDaniels just how much they want him to stay with the team long-term, Krawczynski adds.
• Rylan Stiles of SI.com lays out the case for why he views Cason Wallace’s five-year, $134MM rookie scale extension with the Thunder as a win for both the team and the fourth-year guard. That deal includes a 5% trade kicker, Hoops Rumors has learned.