Mark Williams, Grade: D+
It pains me to give Mark such a low grade, and in his limited action, he looked awesome, but I just can’t get past the 19 games played. Missing Williams for so long has been a crushing blow and a massive part of the reason for the team’s lowly record.
Williams is supposed to be the center of the future, and a core young building block for this team, said to be “untouchable” in trades. That’s warranted based on his play, but he’s been out for months with a back injury and has seen some of the best specialists in the world, yet remains without a timetable for a return.
That is beyond alarming for a 22-year-old 7-footer. The team even had to state the injury is not thought to be career-ending, which is good, but it’s horrifying that needs to be said. It speaks to the serious and troubling nature of this back injury.
Hopefully, we’ll get an update on his status soon, and he’ll be able to take the floor again this season. But if not, it’s basically a lost season for the second-year player, and it’s going to be hard to count on him going forward.
The reason this is all so disappointing and upsetting is that Williams was looking like an awesome player on both ends of the floor. In just over 26 minutes a game, he was averaging 12.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks a game on 65% shooting.
I desperately hope that Williams’ long-term health is not a concern and we see him back on the floor and dominating next year. With any luck, I’ll be giving him a much higher grade on this list a year from now.