Phoenix Suns center Mark Williams battled a lot of injuries throughout his short NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets. His injury history is so checkered that the Los Angeles Lakers chose to fail Williams on a physical and to void a trade at last season’s trade deadline.
Last season, Williams played in a career-high 44 games. That’s something the Suns are trying to change after acquiring the 7-foot center this offseason.
“We know Mark’s history and we’re trying to change it,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said at a recent practice. “We’re taking an approach. He’s been out here and has been good. This is Sept. 26. Definitely added some strength to him. You can see it when he walks in the building. He definitely has great size. Excited to see where he goes, but we still do have a couple more weeks.”
Ott may limit Williams’ minutes throughout the preseason. Doing so will also give Phoenix a chance to look more at rookie center Khaman Maluach, as well as Nick Richards and Oso Ighodaro, who are also options to play the five.
“He’s in a good place,” Ott said about Williams. “We want Mark to know we care about him this year and going forward so we have a really intentional plan for him.”