It's Mark Williams Time
In the past couple of years, the Charlotte Hornets have utilized the G-League and adopted a farm system with their draft picks. Players such as Christian Wood, Devonte Graham, the Martin twins, Jalen McDaniels, Nick Richards, James Bouknight, Kai Jones, and recently Mark Williams, have all gone through extended stretches in Greensboro.
After selecting Mark Williams 15th overall in the NBA Draft and choosing him over Detroit Rookie Jalen Duren, the Hornets received criticism from fans for sending down Williams to the G-League. But it's prepared him for the opportunity he's currently getting in Charlotte.
The G-League allowed Williams to gain confidence and continue to play competitive basketball rather than spectate on the Hornets bench in street clothes. Contrary to popular belief, the G-League is full of talented players hungry to earn a spot in the league, and Mark Williams was able to compete at a high level and get adjusted to NBA schemes. In 11 Games in Greensboro, Mark Williams averaged 22.2 PTS, 12.2 REB, and 1.8 BLK on 64.8% shooting.
He stayed patient and has been a professional in the G-League as he awaited his opportunity to play for Charlotte. That opportunity finally came against the Trail Blazers following an unfortunate ankle sprain to Nick Richards. In 15 minutes, he recorded 9 PTS, 6 REB, and 2 STL on 3-4 shooting from the field and FT line.
Athleticism, hands, and ability to guard in space were on full display. Although he had trouble defending 7'0, 275-pound Jusuf Nurkic in the post, he showed his staggering length that even gave Damian Lillard issues.
Every game following his debut in the rotation, Williams has improved.
He has been in the rotation in 19 of the last 22 games and in those games, he's averaging 8.3 PTS, 6.2 REB, 1.3 BLK, and 0.9 STL on 66.3% shooting in only 17.2 MPG. He's given Charlotte incredible production and has made a substantial impact on both ends despite the limited playing time.
Two games stand out among this 19-game stretch, and we'll start with his breakout game against the OKC Thunder, where he posted 17 PTS, 13 REB, 2 STL, and 2 BLK in only 21 minutes, making him the last player to put up those stats in under 24 minutes since Robert Parish in 1980. Granted, the OKC Thunder were severely undersized, starting a rookie frontcourt with 6'5" Jalen Williams and 6'9" Jaylin Williams. Still, Mark's positional awareness in the post and ability to fill in gaps on defense was impressive for a rookie. Williams is every bit of 7'2", and he takes full advantage of it.
Charlotte hasn't had many physically imposing players come through, so it's a nice change of pace to see the 20-year-old come in and be able to seal players in the post and dominate mismatches as he did against OKC.
The second game I mentioned came against the Rockets, where he notched 17 PTS, 6 REB, and 5 BLK in 18 minutes. Mark's ability as a rim runner, roll threat, and rim protector was on full display. One thing I love about Mark is his talent at tracking the ball and putting himself in a position to make a play at any given time. Against Houston, he was great at creating second chance opportunities and making his presence felt down low.
Defensively, Mark's ground coverage and ability to cover the backline has been as good as you can ask for from a rookie big. It usually takes centers a while to adjust to the NBA pace and make a difference on that end without fouling, but Mark has been the exception. He gave Alperen Sengün immediate issues in that Rockets game due to him just staying on his feet and keeping his hands up, holding him to 0-4 from the field.
Yesterday at the trade deadline, Charlotte traded Mason Plumlee to the Clippers for Reggie Jackson and a 2028 second-round pick, clearing up room for Mark Williams to assume the starting spot. Having played only 349 minutes this season, it's great to see Charlotte make a move in a losing season to prioritize Williams development.
"With the development of our young players, probably most specifically our bigs, Mark [Williams] and Nick [Richards]. I think Kai [Jones] is playing well with the G-League. But the development of them - a little bit quicker than we thought and our position as a team, it became pretty obvious," said Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak on Friday. "Mason, a veteran, an unrestricted free agent, wants to win at this stage in his career. Probably the best thing for him and probably the best thing for us was to make a move and clean up the roster a little bit and give our young players a chance to play, develop, and grow."
Mark Williams has the chance to be a special player in this league, and we'll get a ton of flashes of his potential in the coming weeks. With his size, ability to move his feet, deter shots at the rim, vertical spacing, athleticism, and touch, he will be a problem for years to come. He's both the present and future of the Hornets alongside LaMelo Ball.
