Mar 31, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) gets a dunk over Utah Jazz center Oscar Tshiebwe (34) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Why the Hornets should ride it out with Mark Williams

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated May 5, 2025 8:31 AM ET

The Charlotte Hornets almost moved on from Mark Williams. They had a deal in place for him to go to the Los Angeles Lakers. A few days later, after the deadline had passed, the Lakers walked it back, and the Hornets had no real recourse. The expectation then was that Williams would be shopped again, likely for a lesser return, in the offseason.

Though the trade window is not yet open again, that offseason has arrived. It's time to decide what Williams' future holds and whether it's in Charlotte or not. The Hornets, though, may want to reconsider shopping him again now.

For starters, his value is permanently tanked.

He is healthy now, and his physical was probably not so appalling that he's doomed to a short, ineffective career. But NBA teams are going to be exceptionally wary of anything, given that the Lakers acted like they were scared out of their minds at what they saw.

A rescinded trade is also not good for a player's value, especially when considering how badly the Lakers needed a center. Williams is a good one, and they opted to back out rather than take him on. Jaxson Hayes was their starter instead, and it cost them, but that's the route they chose to go down.

So on one hand, Williams won't get a return like Dalton Knecht and a future first-round pick now. That return was exceptional, and it was one of the biggest reasons it was fine then to make the move. They got a good player and a valuable pick in return. They wouldn't now.

On the other hand, Williams is good. The Hornets don't have a clear answer at center. The aging and expensive Jusuf Nurkic (one year left on his contract) isn't the long-term answer. Moussa Diabate, at 6'9" and offensively limited, probably isn't a nightly 30-minute starter at the five, either.

The alternative options in free agency aren't good, and they'd be more expensive and older than Williams. In the draft, the Hornets are probably not picking low enough to justify taking a center. Even if they lose big time and pick seventh, the worst possible scenario, there is only one player close to worth that at center.

ESPN's big board has Khaman Maluach as the eighth-best prospect, so that'd be a reach. Derik Queen, the other top-10 center, is 10th. Neither would be wise even if the Hornets fell all the way to seventh, so that's not a viable replacement plan for now, either.

Williams, who averaged a double-double this season, is good and young. The Hornets need those two things now, so trading him away, while it would be wise for the future, is not very viable and wouldn't be as beneficial anymore.