Suns’ Mark Williams wants to show Hornets they were wrong to trade him
Phoenix Suns’ Mark Williams wants to prove why his former team, the Charlotte Hornets, should regret trading him.
Diannie Chavez and Diana Payan/The Republic
PORTLAND — Phoenix Suns big Mark Williams was taking 3s after the team’s morning shootaround on Tuesday, Feb. 3, at Moda Center, as he’s done all season.
This has become just as routine as his availability.
Williams has played 45 games in his first season with the Suns to set a career high for most games played in a regular season.
“It means a lot,” Williams said after the team’s morning shootaround. “It’s a testament to the staff here, myself, the work that I put in over the summer. Body is in a good place. So I’m feeling good.”
His previous career high was 44, set last season in Charlotte.
“It was kind of in the back of my head before the season started,” said Williams, when asked if he was keeping track of the number. “Wanted to play as many games as possible.”
Williams is averaging 12 points on a career-high 65.3% shooting and eight rebounds in 24 minutes per game, helping the Suns (30-20) have a surprise season.
He’s also matched his career high for starts in a season at 41. Williams posted a season-high 27 points Jan. 27 in a 106-102 home win over the Brooklyn Nets.
“Playing winning basketball, meaningful basketball,” said Williams, who never won more than 27 games a season in his three seasons with the Hornets. “Feels good. Obviously, I want to continue to improve as the season goes on, individually and team-wise.”
After three injury-filled seasons with the Hornets to begin his NBA career, Williams has only missed five games this season, with one due to a suspension for his on-court altercation with New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado on Dec. 27 during a four-game road trip.
Phoenix traded two first-round picks during the 2025 NBA Draft to the Hornets for Williams, who played a total of 106 games in three seasons in Charlotte.
The Suns made the move despite the Los Angeles Lakers nixing a trade for Williams from Charlotte before the 2025 trade deadline due to a failed team physical.
Phoenix put Williams on an intentional conditioning plan, starting with strengthening his lower body in the weight room.
“Credit to him,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said last week. “Day 1, we talked about him being in the weight room. Talked about it all preseason about him not playing in preseason, not much on the court because we wanted to get him to this point. We’ve got to get him to the finish line.”
After not playing in the team’s four preseason games, Williams began the 2025-26 regular season coming off the bench to help monitor his target minutes and sitting out the second of back-to-back games.
“Just staying consistent with the work,” said Williams, 24, a first-round pick out of Duke in the 2022 draft. “You really didn’t know what that would look like, especially in the preseason when I wasn’t playing, but now we see the results of it and hopefully we can close this thing out.”
Williams started playing the second of back-to-backs when Phoenix played at New Orleans on Dec. 26-27. He’s only missed one game due to an injury of right calf soreness Nov. 29 versus the Denver Nuggets in the second of a back-to-back.
“He’s got to be happy with his own progress,” Ott said last week. “He participated. That’s the best part about his development. He participated in it and now the results have come. Not quite there, but we’ve got to get him across the finish line.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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