Phoenix Suns Acquire Center in 2025 NBA Draft Day Trade
The Phoenix Suns have been unafraid to trade away draft picks and the 2025 NBA Draft shows just that. It was reported during the draft that the Suns have agreed to a trade with the Charlotte Hornets to get center Mark Williams in exchange for the 29th pick in this year’s draft and a 2029 first-round pick. This deal has some interesting ramifications so let’s take a deeper dive into what this deal means for both teams.
Phoenix Suns Trade for Mark Williams
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the deal for the Phoenix Suns to acquire center Mark Williams took place during the 2025 NBA Draft, and this is going to be interesting. The 2029 first-round pick that the Charlotte Hornets acquired will be the least favorable of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, and Minnesota Timberwolves while also being a top-five protected pick. They will also have the 29th pick in the 2025 draft.
For the Hornets, they now have a pair of first-round picks to either use or get to select players and move off of Williams. For the Phoenix Suns, this is a bit of a different situation. The Suns had massive issues with size last season and will have Mark Williams and rookie Khaman Malauch (Houston Rockets pick goes to Phoenix in the Kevin Durant trade).
Williams is a former lottery pick in the 2022 draft and appeared in 44 games for the Hornets last season and averaged 15.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 26.6 minutes. He is on the final year of his rookie contract and there was no report of an extension with this trade at this time.
This seemingly addresses the center position and adds a wrinkle as the last trade deadline saw the Los Angeles Lakers trade for Williams. However, the trade would be rescinded after the Lakers did not like the medicals that Williams had during his physical, keeping him as a member of the Charlotte Hornets. This is an intriguing move, and now will have two big men competing for minutes.
