Mark Williams in the Win vs the Timberwolves: 22 PTS | 7 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 TO | 7⁄9 FG | 1⁄1 3FG | 7⁄9 FT | 85% TS
Mark Williams in the Win vs the Timberwolves:
Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401810220/suns-timberwolves
Still don’t get why the Hornets tried to trade him twice aside from injury concerns.
The Suns got all the rejects from other teams and it’s turning out great for them.
I’ve seen people compare them to they moneyball era A’s and it really is spot on. They’re also stuck with 20 million in dead cap space thanks to Beal this year.
I mean probably gets kinda annoying when your whole young core turns out to be injury prone lol
Plus at times he generally seemed kinda bad on defence, but we now know part of that is that Suns have a better perimeter defence infrastructure than the Hornets
We really just couldnt have every single young player on our team be injury prone.
He is also moving much better this year than he was last year. I dont think its just an infrastructure thing.
In hindsight, its wild to think that a guy with a taller standing reach then Wemby, bigger frame, and can move is bad at defense. I thought it too. Glad our coaches took a chance on him
Our GM is braindead and hates having actual talent on the team. He wants “hard working” drones who practice their butts off and try their best, despite having no aptitude for basketball
Our fans ran with this really wild narrative that he was one of the worst defenders in the league last season despite while he was ramping up from a long injury with no real stats to back it up. Insane how two dogshit trades were justified and now we have one of the worst center rotations in the league
There were absolutely stats to backup Mark being a bad defender last year lol
He’s basically said in multiple interviews that he enjoys being somewhere that he’s valued
Basically he knew the hornets didn’t want him and he was checked out
Sounds just like Ayton lol. It’s ironic that the Suns of all teams got him.
He was a bad defender before the lakers trade. Hes moving much better this year trust me
The meme was that Rob made the trade before watching any tape of him playing defense then rescinded the trade as soon as he did lol
He still had his touch on offense last year but he was not moving well. Glad he’s doing well though he always seemed like a great kid
Nah mark didn’t want to be on the hornets plain and simple
He was totally fine until we traded him for Dalton Knecht and the 28th pick in 2030. Let’s not start this Mark wanted out narrative. Jeff wanted Mark out, if he didn’t, neither trade would’ve happened.
somewhat raw injury prone center vs wing with decent size who projects (at the time) to be a legit sniper. i dont think anyone in the world would have said Knecht had a higher ceiling than Mark, who had flashes of serious dominance, but I can kind of sort of maybe understand that initial trade. I do not understand trading him to Phoenix for garbage and a far future first rounder
Knecht sucks man
nobody is talking about december 2025 Knecht bro, use your reading comprehension skills
Contract year coming up, played 100 games in 3 seasons, was genuinely terrible last year. Got 2 (late) frps for him. He desperately needed a change of scenery.
He really didn’t. We are the only team that routinely gives up on talented players on their rookie contracts
Well thats just not true lol plenty of teams do that and he was about to not be on a rookie contract. He played 100 games in 3 seasons man.
You think they should have extended a man as injury prone as him when your other 2 core players also have major injury issues? Cause either you do that or he walks for nothing. They got value out of him.
29th pick in the 2025 draft and a protected 2029 pick, sort of as low value as first rounders can be tbf
after failing to trade him the first time and it being a contract year, they had to trade him the second time.
we simply did not need to trade him the first time.
It is a move this franchise will be haunted by for a long time if he’s able to stay on the floor for even 50+ games a year
Most people who haven’t followed the Hornets should understand that the Hornets have lacked a legitimately good center for about 30 years. Even in sporadic playing time, Mark was that guy, and deserved a healthy offseason to prove himself before being given up on. As every single one of the other 29 NBA franchises would have done.
Don’t forget, we also drafted Jalen Duren and traded him for a couple seconds and a bag of airline peanuts. Our center rotation is Ryan Kalkbrenner, Moosa Diabete, and Mason Plumlee.
The second trade was probably inevitable, I doubt he wanted to be in Charlotte anymore. If he plays his career out with minimal injury concerns (which I hope he does because I’m not a psychopath) then it will be another entry in the list of incredibly dumb things the organisation has done.
Which sucks especially hard because generally speaking the new front office have been much better
Remember when they trade duren because they already choose mark william?
Dalton Knecht better
That whole trade saga was absolutely wild lol
Not sure if the Lakers FO bought the hype that they were already contenders after a few big wins or what but they basically ended up punting the season by entering the playoffs with no good bigs
I think we backed out due to genuine concerns, we only had one center and no other options since the trade deadline passed when it fell through
That said, glad Mark is balling, had to be stressful times for him
They had concerns about his physical, whether they were right or wrong I obviously don’t know. Any other theory like “buying the hype” is foolish. Management knew they needed more size and that trade falling through just left as a giant hole in the roster which was very costly. Also sucked for Mark, just sucked all around.
FO prob didn’t think last years team could contend.
They pursued ayton instead and kept DK and the FRP
It was the supposedly “shohei ohtani” of doctors or something that didn’t clear him out. Glad he’s doing good but I am not gonna shit on the management for actually listening to the medical staff.
For Lakers for this season it worked out better as they got a more available Ayton for nothing. Long term though as Ayton wants to get paid and Reaves gets a supermax they might want Williams instead.
Mark Williams is a better more impactful player than ayton
Don’t know about all that. Ayton has been very impactful for us. He’s ultra efficient at the rim, has bought into the defense, and has fantastic chemistry with Luka, AR, and Bron. I think Mark Williams has the potential to be better than Ayton if he can become less injury prone, but he’s not quite there yet
Mark Williams certainly has that potential, but Ayton does have availability and consistency on his side
Even if so, Ayton is somehow more reliable and available.
Frp* better
can’t pass up the opportunity to draft another JHS lol
or you know trade for Giannias /s
it worked for Luka right? I am sure it will work again
Suns fans talking about drafts is funny, can we talk about the 2018 draft now?
neither team can draft what’s your point?
Lakers can definitely draft.
when was their last good draft pick?
Max Christie was so good that the mavericks gave up luka to get him, in what is now known as the Max Christie trade
Does Reaves count? I guess no. Maybe Caruso? Nah. Hart? Randle? DLo? Ingram? Lonzo (was decent before his injury). Kuzma? Zubac?
so a decade ago
Reaves is like 3-4 years ago. Which was your last good pick?
Christie?
2020 I think we took Jaden mcdaniels and in 2022 we took max Christie who’s a pretty solid role player and still under 23. Also mark Walter’s started cleaning out our old draft department so it might be better now.
Lakers don’t have to draft.
League bails you guys out constantly.
Christie
What is there to talk about?
Ayton is better and Lakers get to keep their valuable asset (a rare 1st rounder.) Worked out pretty well for them.
having a good center who can take contact and dominate is such a blessing after the last couple
Mark Williams arguably best center we’ve had in a decade
I like mark but that’s kinda sad if true
Our best centers of all time:
Fat Shaq may be #4 or 5.
Ease up on DominAyton please and thank you.
I guess your sample size is better than ours, BUT I’d argue that roster construction didn’t really maximize DeAndre’s potential except in 2021.
I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen so far from him (and no, I’m not talking about that awful Alex Len- Hayes C rotation brrr)
It’s definitely not true lmao
oh here comes the basketball reference comparison tool
Chandler, Baynes, Ayton, Saric, Jock, Nurkic, Richards
Finals run DA prolly the only one better
Alvan Adams erasure. I will accept no disrespect for the original Suns lifer
Bro said 10 years
Yeah, but did you consider that I’m an idiot? Didn’t think so
“Probably”
not really relevant when he became so bad he was traded for Jusuf Nurkic and then let go for free a year later by the guys who traded for him is it
“Became” is not the same as “was” during his tenure
It’s the end result that matters lmao. Let’s hang the WCF banner!
It was the same tenure that ended poorly, being good for 1 year set the franchise back half a decade
So if Mark Williams doesn’t reach the WCF, he’s even worse than Ayton? What is this logic lmao
Sounds like an incompetent front office led by an incompetent owner
Welp, hard to say he was better outside of the one year if you’re looking cumulatively
Even that year in the regular season, he was up and down as hell. It just didn’t matter as much because CP3 and Booker were disgusting
Hornets probably loss this trade.
Good he’s staying healthy with yall so far.
he was the best center we’ve also had in a decade. Peterson has done many fireable things in his short tenure as our GM but trading Mark (twice) tops the list. Everyone that has two or more brain cells knew this was coming if he got a healthy offseason to build his body back up after his injury.
You’re welcome.
He hit the first 3 of his career!!
I want to see 50 more (on at least 36%)
Thank you Lakers physical
Rare win win as Lakers fans feel the exact same way with Ayton
Ayton + First round pick + Knecht (i guess) is more valuable for the lakers than this version of Mark Williams. And the suns got a great player in him for relatively cheap
Lakers lucked out. They landed a better player for cheap and got to keep their assets. Don’t have to pay Mark Williams a fat contract either.
Post game interview he said “it feels good to be wanted man” so obviously he took the lakers sending him back personally
Yep, I saw a vid of him implying that he expected to stay at the team that drafted him. So he probably asked out after the lakers trade attempt
Hope fucking Rudy didnt break him. Fuck that guy
Rudy was a bitch for that.
Pretty funny to hear that from wolves flair
Yes it was a dirty move
AND A 3
Wish we could find a way to play him on back to backs but oh well, keep the big dog healthy, we’re gonna need him for a deep playoff run
Charlotte dumb as fuck
Lakers dumber.
any1 know if the lakers would still have deandre ayton this season if they kept the mark williams acquisition?
No, we would’ve had no reason to sign DA if we traded for a starting center.
Jeff Peterson you should resign in shame
He was never gonna be good for us. He definitely wouldn’t be healthy for us. Probably shouldn’t have tried the laker trade in the first place and kept him but its over now.
He was good for us and was easily our most talented center in a decade. he just needed time to get his strength and conditioning back after missing all that time. Only Jeff with his crippling addiction to low value picks would give up on a young talent like that so he could get two shitty late firsts
He was never gonna be good for us.
Terrence Oglesby’s halftime rant did a number on yall’s brains
You are so melodromatic. Can’t imagine the crashout when they move on from Lamelo.
The initial deal that fell through was very good for someone with his injury concerns. Having a core of 2 injury prone players is bad enough right now, but it would have been reckless to move forward with 3.
It would have been time to extend him and extending him then with his health so up in the air would have been stupid. He would have just ended up walking so they got what value they could.
But you don’t see that. You just see “oooh big stats Hornets bad” and that is the end of it.
You think Dalton Knecht and a late first 5 years from now was a GOOD deal! Jesus Christ man please grow some standards. Have some self worth. It’s easy to talk to other Hornets fans with these takes when praising the team for not literally stabbing itself in the back is an improvement. No serious team would view Knecht and a shit first as an acceptable return for Mark’s talent. We could’ve gotten him on a cheaper deal too to reflect the injury risk if Jeff wasn’t so eager for picks… you act like the situation was broken when it clearly wasn’t, not until the Laker trade.
And I could easily turn it around on you. So far I don’t think I’ve ever seen you say anything but defending the new regime at all costs. How is that any better than what I do?
If it was such a good deal for the Lakers then why did they back out of it?
Nice to see him actually stay healthy
Glad the Dodgers FO wasn’t in charge yet when they nixed the trade
We got Ayton who’s better for 8 million and no draft capital, win-win for both the Lakers and Suns
Ayton isn’t better than Williams
Just completely dissagree.
-15⁄9 on 70 fg% with good defence for 8mil
-or
-13⁄9 on 65 fg% with alright defense for two firsts.
-That’s without mentioning Aytons mid range
Williams plays less minutes per game but all the advanced stats show williams has been better
What advanced stat? Keep in mind Williams cant play more minutes, because his body would fall apart.
You will be singing a different tune when you go through the Deandre Ayton experience in the playoffs.
Let’s see Mark Williams get to the all star break without injury before we shit on the 8 million free signing
That’s fair, Mark might not hold up physically. As someone who watched every single Deandre Ayton game up until he left, I am very happy I no longer have to watch him play basketball anymore. One of the most frustrating players I’ve ever watched.
Yeah he’s not perfect, but I dont expect him to be. Your criticism of him is fair, because he was a max player for yall
Ayton is absolutely better for Williams. And the best part? He was cheap, he didn’t cost the Lakers any assets. Let’s revisit this when the Suns sign Williams to a fat contract and have a 7’2” big man with injury concerns.
Imagine lakers with this guy instead of the ghost of Knecht
Why would we want him instead of Ayton, Knecht, and a 1st?
and a swap. Ayton alone is better
We’re good man, I get the whole reason for the post and everyones comments is to dunk on the Lakers but this year we are happy with Ayton and Suns fans seem stoked with Mark.
Lol yeah man it’s a rare win-win, but everyone wants to dunk on the Lakers instead of just being happy for Mark Williams