Williams' Flaws Exposed, Hornets' Foresight Vindicated

It's April 6, from the locker room to your ears.

This is Charlotte Hornets News today, powered by AI.

I'm Cory with the story.

Mark Williams got drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 2022, picking him over Jalen Dern

as their big man of the future.

But after trading him to the Phoenix Sons, his first game back against Charlotte laid

bare while they moved on.

He put up 12 points, four rebounds, three steals, one assist, one block in 20 minutes,

solid on paper, especially coming off a foot injury.

Still, it exposed the same old flaws in his game.

The Hornets carved him up at the rim, showing his defense ain't as steady as his size suggests.

Rebounding was rough too.

The seven foot one center with a nine foot nine standing reach got a hustled by shorter

Musa Diabate, who grabbed double.

Digits on the boards, while Williams had just one in his first 10 minutes.

Fans and scouts been buzzing about his injury history hurting the Hornets big time.

He only played about 35 games a season there, 43% of the schedule.

Even the Lakers backed out of a trade after he flunked the physical.

That unreliability killed his fit as their anchor.

Now with the sons, those red flags are popping up again early.

Charlotte looks smart dodging the bullet, landing Diabate with the motor, rebounding

and toughness that fits today's NBA better.

Williams' limited offense means he needs perfect health and elite everything else to stick.

The sons might let him walk this off season, proving the Hornets saw the writing on the wall

first.

Raw tools don't always cash out in this league.