Mark Williams had his dream come true on 23rd June, as he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 15th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft. The former Duke Blue Devil averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game in his sophomore season and just missed out on being a lottery pick.
He did get a fine consolation prize for that, as team owner Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player of all time, rang him up to congratulate him on becoming a part of the team.
It made the night just that much more special for Williams who will be looking to immediately make an impact for the Hornets. They have long struggled at the center position and in Williams, they now potentially have a franchise player to pair with budding star LaMelo Ball. Ball earned his first All-Star selection this past season and he led the Hornets to the play-in game, but they failed to make the playoffs once again.
Williams will be looking to change that as he slots in as a rim protector and a lob threat for LaMelo as the two will hope to take this franchise to new heights. The Hornets under Jordan have never won a playoff series and after missing the playoffs for the 6th year in a row, they had seemingly signed up Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson as their new head coach.
Atkinson, however, backed out of the job to stay with Golden State and they had to turn to a familiar face to take over. Steve Clifford was the last coach to lead them to the playoffs and he now returns as the man at the helm. He has two very talented youngsters at his disposal and Jordan will be hoping that this trio helps him finally break his playoff duck and turn the franchise around.
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