2:37pm: The Hornets have confirmed Williams’ ACL tear and say in a press release that he’ll be out indefinitely.
12:12pm: Hornets forward Grant Williams tore his ACL, meniscus and other connected ligaments in his right knee during his team’s 125-119 defeat to the Bucks on Saturday night, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN.
Williams will miss the rest of the 2024/25 NBA season, according to Charania.
The 25-year-old was in the midst of a productive second season in Charlotte. Across his 16 healthy games this fall while playing behind starters Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges, Williams averaged 10.4 points per game on .439/.365/.838 shooting splits. He also logged 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per 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, $53.3MM deal as part of a three-team sign-and-trade.
That experiment lasted just 47 games before Williams was traded again. As part of a transformative 2023/24 midseason deal, he 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.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link), the Hornets will have the ability to file for a disabled player exception worth half Williams’ $13MM+ salary (approximately $6.5MM). However, while that exception gives teams extra cap flexibility, it doesn’t provide for an extra roster spot. Charlotte currently has all 15 standard roster spots occupied, so the team would need to create an opening to use a DPE.
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.
A rough break.
From this Celtics fan, best of luck to Grant in his rehabilitation and recovery.
Agree completely. I always appreciated the effort he played with.
Sucks to see =(
The full Shaun Livingston
Yikes, that’s a whole bunch of ligaments, that’s 2+ year full recovery time on those. Hope he can come back to the league! Prayers up!
Diabate should handle the duties until Bridges & Richards come back.”
Hornets didn’t deserve him anyway. Feel better grant
#Karma
#irony
That injury looks nasty …….. speedy recovery to GW.
Always liked this guy, plays with heart, for both good and bad.
And thinks he’s a superstar. As a Celtics fan, I was so happy to see him go. Not as much complaining to the referees and they win a championship. That said, I hate seeing guys get hurt like this and wish him well.
If Grant makes it back this time, it will be one of the bigger comeback stories of the NBA. I sincerely hope he does.
He can return as his game does not rely on being a high flyer. He just has to hang in there mentally through the rehab.
All that athleticism… gone.
Oh wait…