Player card
- Team / role: Phoenix Suns starting center and primary rim runner/protector
- Healthy rotation: 26 MPG
- Season projection: 48 GP, 26 MPG
Correction 2026-07-19: base GP lowered from 55 to 48. The 55 sat above his three-season mean plus a normal error band (19, 44, 60 — mean 41) despite everything this file already establishes: the left-foot third-metatarsal stress reaction re-aggravated on his April 2 return and again after the April 14 play-in game, the same foot produced the 2024-25 tendon strain, he has never cleared 60 games in four seasons, and no public July report confirms unrestricted work — the re-signing announcement supplied contract news, not clearance. The dossier's own trajectory section prices "a real chance the same metatarsal costs another 15-20 games"; 48 applies that discount to the 60-game career high instead of assuming a healthy re-baseline no source confirms. A clean camp clearance would justify moving back toward the mid-50s. NBA/AP re-signing, 2026-07-07 · Yahoo Sports, 2026-04 - 9-cat line: .635 FG (5.1/8.0), .750 FT (2.0/2.7), 0.0 3PM, 12.2 PTS, 8.7 REB, 1.1 AST, 0.8 STL, 1.0 BLK, 1.2 TO - Projection confidence: Low-medium - Formats: Strong per-game nine-cat center; volatile points-league asset; high-risk/high-reward dynasty hold
Role and evidence
Phoenix re-signed Williams for a reported three years and $38 million after he averaged 11.7 points and 8.0 rebounds, shot 64%, and started 55 of 60 games. The contract and depth chart confirm the role; Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach protect the team from overextending him. Source: NBA on Williams' return, 2026-07-07. Confidence: high on role and contract.
Williams' 2025-26 fantasy line included .644 FG, .771 FT, 7.9 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes. His per-minute combination is scarce even without a three-pointer. Source: Hashtag Basketball, updated 2026-07-02. Confidence: medium-high on historical rates.
The concern is a recurring left-foot third-metatarsal stress reaction, not a single late-season event. It cost him 15 consecutive games from early March; he returned on April 2, re-aggravated it, and never played again after the April 14 play-in loss to Portland. He missed the entire four-game first-round series against Oklahoma City, was seen in a walking boot before Game 2, and was ruled out of Game 4 for what Phoenix described as ongoing discomfort in the stress reaction at the third metatarsal of the left foot. No public July report located in this pass explicitly cleared him for unrestricted work, so a 55-plus GP projection would assume a healthy re-baseline that no public source confirms — the 48 GP base above prices that gap rather than assuming it away. That absence is not proof of a setback, but it prevents a high-confidence 65-plus-game projection. Sources: Yahoo Sports on the walking boot before Game 2, 2026-04, Suns game preview/injury update, 2026-03-24. Confidence: high on diagnosis and on the playoff absence, low on July recovery status.
Correction 2026-07-18: this section previously named the right foot and said he was "limited around the postseason." Both were wrong — it is the left foot, the same one that produced the 2024-25 tendon strain, and he did not appear in the postseason at all. The durability paragraph below already had the foot correct; the two are now consistent. Source: Yahoo Sports, 2026-04.
Category shape
- Wins: Elite FG% impact, rebounds, blocks, low turnovers.
- Neutral: Points and steals are helpful at center; FT% has improved enough not to force a punt.
- Costs: No threes, few assists, and availability.
- Build fit: Excellent with high-volume guards such as Devin Booker; less essential in punt-FG% builds.
Points and dynasty outlook
ESPN ranked Williams No. 115 in April points leagues, a number dragged down by reliability rather than per-minute talent. Source: ESPN rankings, 2026-04-14. Confidence: medium as a dated reference.
Hashtag's July dynasty board put him No. 92 and its keeper crowd No. 132. At 24, he has a real top-60 dynasty ceiling, but repeated lower-body absences justify a wide discount. Sources: Hashtag dynasty, updated 2026-07-02, Hashtag keeper, updated 2026-07-18. Confidence: medium.
Floor, base, ceiling
- Floor: Fewer than 40 games, recurring foot management, and 20-22 minutes when active.
- Base: 48 games at 26 minutes with strong FG%, 8.7 rebounds, and one block.
- Ceiling: 68 games at 28 minutes, a double-double, 1.3 blocks, and top-50 nine-cat value.
Draft verdict
Williams is the roster's best per-game value gamble after Booker. Drafting him requires an explicit replacement plan: Ighodaro is the direct handcuff, while Maluach and Fleming divide emergency center minutes. A normal preseason workload would raise the ceiling; missed contact work or a back-to-back restriction should lower both GP and ADP.
Career record
Pre-NBA: Duke, two seasons (2020-21, 2021-22). As a freshman he played 23 games at 15.2 minutes for 7.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks on .664 FG and .537 FT; as a sophomore he started for the Final Four team, playing 39 games at 23.6 minutes for 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocks on .721 FG and .727 FT. He was ACC Defensive Player of the Year and third-team All-ACC in 2022, and a McDonald's All-American out of IMG Academy. The shooting profile was already what it is now: rim-only scoring, no range, foul-drawing volume. Draft: 2022, round 1, pick 15, Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte agreed to trade him to Phoenix on draft night 2025-06-25 for Vasilije Micić, the No. 29 pick (Liam McNeeley) and a 2029 first, with the deal formally completed 2025-06-30; an earlier February 2025 trade to the Lakers was rescinded when he failed the physical.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 21 | CHA | 43 | 19.3 | 9.0 | 7.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | .637 | .691 | 0.9 |
| 2023-24 | 22 | CHA | 19 | 26.7 | 12.7 | 9.7 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | .649 | .719 | 0.9 |
| 2024-25 | 23 | CHA | 44 | 26.6 | 15.3 | 10.2 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.0 | .604 | .804 | 1.6 |
| 2025-26 | 24 | PHX | 60 | 23.6 | 11.7 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.0 | .644 | .771 | 1.1 |
| Career | 166 | 23.6 | 12.0 | 8.5 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | .629 | .760 | 1.2 |
Fantasy history: Season-end nine-category rankings were not verifiable from a primary rater in this pass, so no year-by-year finish is stated here rather than an estimate. What the box scores support: on a per-game basis he has been a useful but not elite category center in every season he played, with the 2024-25 Charlotte stretch (15.3/10.2/2.5 with .804 FT) the best per-game line of his career, and never a top-100 total-value asset in any season because of games played. In points leagues he is materially weaker than his category shape suggests — the value is concentrated in field-goal percentage and rebounds, and he generates almost no threes or assists to pad a points total. ESPN's April 2026 points-league board had him 115th for 2026-27.
Durability: 43 GP (2022-23), 19 GP (2023-24), 44 GP (2024-25), 60 GP (2025-26) — 166 of a possible 328. Rookie year: repeated left ankle sprains plus a right thumb problem. 2023-24: a lower back injury first aggravated against Brooklyn in late November, then surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, which ended the season at 19 games. 2024-25: a strained tendon in his left foot cost him the first roughly 20 games, and in February the Lakers rescinded a completed trade after he failed their physical. 2025-26: a stress reaction in the third metatarsal of his left foot cost him roughly 15 straight games late in the regular season, the play-in game against Golden State, and most or all of the first-round series against Oklahoma City. Note that reporting places the 2025-26 stress reaction in the left foot, the same foot as the 2024-25 tendon strain.
Trajectory: The per-minute player has been stable and good for four years; the only thing that has ever moved is availability and role. The 2024-25 Charlotte spike was a usage artifact — a bad team with no other scorer handed him post touches and 2.5 assists of hub duty, which inflated points and turnovers and dropped his field-goal percentage to a career-low .604. Phoenix reversed that: fewer touches, more rim-running, .644 from the field, turnovers back under one and a half, and a career-high 60 games. That is the honest read of him — a high-efficiency finisher and rebounder whose counting stats scale with minutes rather than with any developing skill, since he has added no shooting range, and whose block rate has actually drifted down from 1.0-1.2 toward 0.9. At 24 he is at the age where a center's body should be at its most durable, and he has still never cleared 60 games; the aging curve is not the risk here, the foot is. For 2026-27 the base case is what 2025-26 already was: strong rates in 23-26 minutes with a real chance the same metatarsal costs another 15-20 games, and the three-year contract signals Phoenix priced him as a starter they intend to protect rather than lean on.
Career sources: ESPN career stats, StatMuse career per-game by season, Wikipedia — Mark Williams (basketball), NBA.com — Suns trade for Mark Williams, Swarm and Sting — Mark Williams injury history
Open questions
- Is Williams fully cleared from the left-foot third-metatarsal stress reaction that ended his season on April 14?
- Will Phoenix cap him near 26 minutes even when healthy?
- Can he push above one block per game without sacrificing foul discipline?