Hornets reserve forward Grant Williams tore his ACL, meniscus and other connected ligaments in his right knee during his team’s 125-119 loss to the Bucks on Saturday night, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN. He will now miss the rest of the 2024-25 NBA season.
The 25-year-old was in the midst of a productive second season in Charlotte. Across his 16 healthy games this year while playing behind starters Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, Williams averaged 10.4 points on .439/.365/.838 shooting splits. He also logged 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists a night.
The Tennessee alum was initially selected by the Celtics with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 draft. He had some memorable moments with Boston, but was plagued by shooting inconsistency in the postseason. A bit undersized for his defensive assignments at 6’6″, Williams ultimately moved on to the Mavericks as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2023. He inked a four-year, $53.3M deal as part of a three-team sign-and-trade.
That experiment lasted just 47 games before he was traded again. As part of a transformative 2023-24 midseason deal, Williams was shipped out, along with guard Seth Curry and a future first-round draft pick, to the Hornets in exchange for P.J. Washington. With Washington in tow, the Mavericks marched all the way to the NBA Finals.
Charlotte currently has all 15 standard roster spots occupied. As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes, the team would need to waive a player, but afterwards it would be able to file for a disabled player exception worth half Williams’ salary, or $6.5M, and sign someone into that.
At 6-10, the Hornets are currently the No. 11 seed in the Eastern Conference, tied by record with the Nets and Pacers. Losing Williams is a major blow to their bench depth.