Over the last year, the Charlotte Hornets were clearly willing to part ways with Mark Williams. They tried to trade Williams at the trade deadline to the Lakers before Los Angeles rescinded the trade.
At that moment, it was pretty clear that the Hornets had given up on Williams. Despite his immense talent, Charlotte was ready to move on, despite not having any backup plan.
This offseason, Jeff Peterson shipped Williams to the Phoenix Suns, and now they will have a new starting center. During media day, Peterson addressed that trade.
While speaking on media day, Peterson addressed why Williams just didn’t fit in Charlotte. He started off by praising him.
“Mark is one of the best humans I’ve been around. Just a consummate professional. I know he’s going to have, Phoenix has a great coach in Jordan Ott. I know Mark is going to go down there and fit in there as well. We wish him nothing but the best.”
Peterson really didn’t answer the question, skirting around the issue. Instead, he praised how Williams handled the Lakers rescinding the first trade.
“Even after the trade got rescinded, that’s not an easy thing for anyone to navigate. Quite frankly, I don’t know if Mark could have handled it better.”
Peterson could have just said that Williams didn’t play enough games and was too injured to count on. Instead, he didn’t answer the question and just decided to praise him.
With Williams now playing for the Suns, the Hornets still have to figure out who is going to start for them at the center spot. Trading Williams put them in a bad spot in that regard.
This trade will be judged on the merits of who replaces Williams and how well he plays, compared to how available Williams is going to be able to be in Phoenix.
Last season with the Hornets, Williams averaged 15.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in just 44 games played.
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