Reviewing Mark Williams' topsy-turvy season with the Charlotte Hornets

A full review of the season that was in Charlotte for Mark Williams.

Matt Alquiza | Apr 18, 2025

Nell Redmond-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

Mark Williams deserves massive kudos for how he handled himself in Charlotte this season. After the Hornets publicly announced their disinterest in having him on the roster when they traded him for Dalton Knecht, a lesser man would have returned to the Queen City following the rescinding of the trade, tucked their tail between their legs, and moped around for the rest of the campaign.

Not Mark.

Williams returned to Charlotte, put his hard hat on, and competed on the floor until the season's bitter end. It wasn't always pretty, but Williams had some solid moments this season. Let's break it all down.

Positive takeaways from Mark Williams' 2024-25 season

Apr 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) drives against Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-Imagn Images / Nell Redmond-Imagn Images

Williams unlocked a new skill under the tutelage of Charles Lee: passing.

The larger-than-life big man has always been light on his feet and skilled with the ball in his hands, but instead of just weaponizing those skills around the rim, Williams began to whiz passes to open teammates as a roller, out of the post, and in transition.

Mark Williams short roll playmaking pic.twitter.com/OXEYSlgUff
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) April 17, 2025

According to Cleaning the Glass, Williams' assist percentage in 2024-25 almost quintupled from his rookie year (3.4% to 15.5%). In simpler terms, Mark assisted on 109 made baskets in 2024-25 after only totaling 40 assists in his first two years as a professional.

In addition, the former Duke Blue Devil's usage rate jumped (14.5% as a rookie to 19.4% in 2024-25) and his efficiency stayed fairly level. Williams shot 71% on shots at the rim, matching the number he posted in his first two professional seasons. Anecdotally it felt like Williams struggled to match the physicality of opposing bigs when he was banging in the paint, but his deft touch on floaters, condor-like wingspan, and impressive ambidexterity often made up for Williams' lack of strength.

Another skill Mark used to his advantage is his keen sense of spatial awareness. On the rare occasion that one of Charlotte's guards created an advantage and touched the paint on a drive, Williams did a nice job of making subtle movements to create a passing window behind his defender's back. Although Williams struggled to create looks of his own when he possessed the ball, he proved to be a talented off-ball paint player that maximized his guards' assist chances.

Lastly on offense, Williams is one of the league's premiere through-contact finishers. His lower half and core weaknesses be damned, Mark is a brute when opposing defenses foul him hard. The third-year center finished the bucket on 28.7% of the shooting fouls he drew, a 79th percentile number in basketball. To add a layer to that already impressive number, Williams was an elite foul-drawer in 2024-25, earning free throw attempts on 17.2% of his shot attempts (88th percentile).

To put a bow on Williams' foul drawing mastery, he converted on 80.2% of his free throw attempts, a career-high.

The defensive side of the ball is where Mark struggled the most, but his NBA combine-record legth standing reach will always be a weapon. Williams boasted a block rate of 2.2%, an above-average number across the league.

Area of improvement for Mark Williams

Williams diagnosed this himself, but he needs to get stronger, specifically in his lower half.

my body and versatility on both sides of the ball
— Mark Williams (@MarkWi1liams) April 16, 2025

Too often in 2024-25 was Mark Williams pushed around by bulky opposing centers. In a key moment late in a close loss against the Nuggets, Williams was unable to secure a contested defensive rebound against reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic who pulled down the board, converted an and one, and sealed the game for Denver.

Williams is stuck inbetween two different archetypes. Not strong enough to bang in the paint with the Jokics, Sabonis', and Vucevics of the world, but also not fleet of foot enough to guard on the perimeter like the Jaxon Hayes', Victor Wembanyamas, and Jaren Jackson Jrs of the world.

He's not a stiff - Williams is mobile enough to hang against quicker players on occasion, but I think added strength will help him on the interior without over-compromising his perimeter abilities.

On offense, the next step for Williams is to fully unlock his jump shooting potential.

The big man fired away on a couple of long two's and even some three-point attempts this season, but in order to maximize his full potential, some added range is necessary. He said on X this week that a three-point shot is coming, and if you look at his elite free throw shooting percentage, it doesn't take too much squinting to see the vision.

Overall takeaways from Mark's 2024-25 campaign

Although often frustrating due to his defensive struggles and inconsistencies, 2024-25 was overall a net positive for Mark Williams. The Hornets struggled to keep pace with the opposition when Williams manned the paint (they were 4.8 points worse with Mark on the floor, but the context of his supporting cast throws that number out the window for me), but overall, there was more good than bad.

The best thing for Williams is that he stayed relatively healthy all season. Save for his unfortunate foot injury in training camp, Mark Williams was more available this season than he had been for his previous two if you leave out the two week recuperation following the failed trade to Los Angeles.

In all, Mark proved that he could both stay healthy and man the paint for extended periods of time, but Charlotte's new regime also proved that they aren't married to him as their long-term answer at center.

This summer Williams becomes extension-eligible and his career is at a crossroads. Will he sign an extension with the team that drafted him and put the post-trade malaise aside? Or will Charlotte trade him again and move on with a brand new center from the 2025 NBA Draft or free agency?