Hornets Win Over Suns Proves Mark Williams Trade Was Right Move

The Charlotte Hornets traded Mark Williams for two first-round picks during the last NBA draft. The first was the 29th that year, which ended up being used on Liam McNeeley. The second is one with several conditions in 2029.

After years of searching for a long-term answer at center, the offensively gifted Williams seemed to be the answer. Now, it was just about getting him to stay healthy for long enough, which, to be fair, was a problem for LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, too.

Ultimately, the Hornets decided to trade him and spent one of their second-round picks on a potential replacement, Ryan Kalkbrenner. The center rotation of Moussa Diabaté and Kalkbrenner sans Williams was seen as a major hole for the Hornets.

All season, though, the Hornets were validated. And on Thursday night, with Williams making his return, they were validated once more in a huge win over the Phoenix Suns.

Williams was solid off the bench for Phoenix, scoring 12 points on 6/7 shooting with four rebounds and three blocks. But here's the real kicker: the Suns were -12 in his 20 minutes. They lost by 20 points.

Meanwhile, Diabaté was +10 despite scoring just four points. He did add 10 rebounds, though. Kalkbrenner was also +10 and had eight points and seven rebounds. Though they only combined for five shots, neither missed from the field.

Why is this? Well, both Kalkbrenner and Diabaté are better defenders, which was a big reason the Hornets wanted to move on from Williams. They also fit the roster better as rebounding defenders who don't need the ball. Williams was good on offense, but that wasn't Charlotte's problem, and they have too many ball-dominant players anyway.

Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) reacts to an official’s call during the second | Nell Redmond-Imagn Images

Here are the stats for Kalkbrenner in his rookie year:

112.2 offensive rating
111.1 defensive rating
1.0 net rating
76.1% true shooting

Diabaté:

122.5 offensive rating
111.2 defensive rating
11.3 net rating
65.2% true shooting

Williams:

111.3 offensive rating
113.4 defensive rating
-2.1 net rating
67.2% true shooting

He shoots slightly better than Diabaté, but otherwise, both Kalkbrenner and Diabaté clear him with ease. The two centers in Charlotte are better than their predecessor, so there's a bit of addition by subtraction there.

Plus, getting Liam McNeeley, who has a solid 2.5 net rating in NBA action and has been good in the G-League, is a bonus, too. The 2029 pick is going to end up being in the mid-to-late 20s, but it's still valuable.

So with the improvement at the center spot, McNeeley, and a future pick, the Hornets honestly made out like bandits in this one.

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