Mark Williams is entering his fourth year in the league and starting fresh with a new team. He was drafted 15th overall in 2022 by the Charlotte Hornets, where he spent his first three seasons. He averaged 35 games played each year and has never appeared in more than 44.
As Mark Williams enters his fourth season, he’s eligible for a rookie extension. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal, set to earn $6.3 million while wearing a Phoenix Suns uniform.
This is that tricky zone for a front office. The team has to decide if a player’s future production is worth betting on now, or if it’s better to wait and see. Williams is a mystery. He can put up a double-double when he’s on the floor, but staying on the floor has been the problem.
There are two ways this can go. The first seems most likely. The deadline for rookie extensions is today, and there’s been no word from the organization that Williams has a new deal. That means the Suns are putting him in a prove-it year. If he stays healthy and performs, he’ll hit restricted free agency next summer, giving the team a chance to match whatever offer comes his way.
The other path would have been to extend him now, locking in cost certainty and a little peace of mind. That would give the Suns control over their center situation moving forward and keep Williams as an asset they could manage more strategically down the line.
The right move, in my opinion, is to hold off on a rookie extension.
I understand the desire to lock him up and control his future, but with Williams’ injury history, that’s a dangerous gamble. Committing $10–15 million a year for four seasons could turn into another depreciating asset. If he can’t stay healthy, you’re staring down another situation like the contracts of Jusuf Nurkic or Nassir Little: deals that were tough to move.
We still haven’t seen Williams suit up for the Suns. He didn’t play a minute in the preseason. The team is handling him carefully, using the velvet-glove approach in hopes of keeping him ready for the long haul. Time will tell if that’s the right call, both in how they’re managing his health and in choosing not to extend him.
The hope is simple. That he’s on the floor in two nights at the Mortgage Matchup Center, wearing purple and orange. And that we get more than 35 games out of him. Because if we don’t, he’s worth the $6.3 million, and nothing more.