Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor is joined by contributing writer Tom Haberstroh to discuss the move by Los Angeles to acquire the Hornets center and why he might not quite be the right replacement for the departure of Anthony Davis. Hear the full conversation on “The Kevin O’Connor Show” and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

I want to start with the Lakers here.

Luca, of course, is their biggest acquisition, but they got Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets for Dalton Connect, their rookie first round draft pick this past year, Cam Reddish, an unprotected 2031 1st in a 2030 swap.

I feel like this deal for the Lakers, Tom.

Mark Williams is a home run swing for LA.

He’s played only 85 games through 2.5 years.

He’s suffered injuries, 43 games as a rookie with ankle sprains, thumb surgery, 19 games last year due to back issues, 23 games this year due to foot issues, but Mark Williams, 80% in the restricted area on non-rebound opportunities, that is elite.

Mark Williams, now he’s being paired with Luca and LeBron getting him the ball.

He’s not just a screen and roll guy.

He’s a good free throw shooter, 78% in from the line in his career.

He’s a good facilitator.

He can dribble around the elbows, facilitate, assist to turnover ratio is positive in his career, great short roll passer.

But in addition to the health, Tom, the question with him is gonna come down to, is Mark Williams on defense more like the guy we saw his rookie year, and his rookie year, he helped anchor for like a two month stretch.

The Hornets were a top 10 defense, or is he more like the guy we’ve seen this season, where it’s been lower effort level, at times looking heavy footed as a liability.

So what do you expect from Mark Williams moving forward with the Lakers this year?

Uh, I think for me, this guy is closer to Christian Wood than he is Anthony Davis.

The, the Lakers fans don’t wanna hear that.

But offensively, Mark Williams is awesome for this team.

Defensively, he provides zero resistance at the rim, has provided zero resistance at the rim.

I’m not worried about the offensive fit.

Offensive fit, like you said, it’s a great rim runner.

He’s a guy who’s gonna offensive rebound, he’s gonna crash the boards, he’s gonna finish around the rim, uh, whether it’s on, on a line.

or not, he’s got some offensive game to him.

It’s the defense that really worries me about Mark Williams going forward.

The injury stuff we’ve already talked about, but the defense, let’s talk about it here.

I think on paper, his standing reach being 9′ 9, he’s 7’2, he’s massive.

On paper, he should be massively better than what he is now.

If you watch him, He’s just asking for Anthony Davis or any other guy that he’s faced recently, just red carpet to the rim.

His rotations are slow, he doesn’t have great, I guess, awareness, court awareness about where he’s supposed to be, and for some reason, he just doesn’t have that strength that you would imagine a guy of that size to possess.

So, when you look at the numbers, Three bigs, 3 centers this season have gotten a 40 piece on Mark Williams and the Charlotte Hornets.

You got Anthony Davis, who had 42 and 23, Nikola Vusovich, who had 40 and 13, and you had Evan Mobley, who had 41 and 10 against him.

There have been 1414 centers.

Or 14 instances in which a center had 40+ points and 3 of them would come against Mark Williams.

When you look at the defense around the rim, defensive field goal percentage around the rim.

Of the guys who are averaging at least 5 attempts at the rim defended, he is bottom 4 in field goal percentage allowed, 68% at the rim allowed when he’s nearby, and the top 3 are guys who are offensive stars, Nikola Jokic, guys like Vuch.

These guys are awesome.

So bonus, awesome offensively.

You can make up for no rim protection or very little protection when you got basically these, these planetary systems off.

that it can be the hub for you.

Mark Williams is statistically and with the eyes, one of the least rim protectors, the worst rim protectors in the NBA.

So, does that mean that’s what he’s gonna be in LA?

No.

When you’re playing with Luca and you’re playing with LeBron under JJ Reddick’s organi um leadership, you would hope that he would bring a lot more defensively because he has the tool set, but man, his rim protection numbers are atrocious.