Lakers may try to correct Mark Williams mistake in dud move Suns fans will love

The Phoenix Suns might have a dilemma on what to do with center Mark Williams this offseason, but that doesn't change the fact that he just turned in the best season of his career in The Valley.

Williams giving Phoenix the kind of defensive performances that the Los Angeles Lakers would have loved, which is why they surely regret vetoing a trade for him before the Suns made their move.

Lakers would be making mistake turning to Robert Williams III

There is another big man named Williams hitting unrestricted free agency this summer in the form of Robert Williams III of the Portland Trail Blazers, and already there have been murmurs that the Lakers could be interested.

But turning to a player who has an even worse injury history than the Williams still in Phoenix would be a mistake at a time when they're trying to build a winner around Luka Doncic. One that the Suns would love to see even though he is a valuable contributor when healthy. That just rarely happens.

Consider that Williams III played 59 games this season, at just over 17 minutes per night. That was considered a massive success for him, the 28-year-old managing only 26 games total in his two previous seasons with Portland.

Every indicator would tell you that he is going to break down again and does not have what it takes to go through the gauntlet that is the Western Conference in the playoffs. Not that the other Williams was much better for the Suns, he was unable to get healthy enough to appear in their series versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But he is four years younger and actually played one regular season game more than his counterpart for the Trail Blazers, at 23.6 minutes each night. Of those games 55 were starts, whereas Williams III (this is getting a little confusing isn't it?) managed a single start for a team that did not even make the playoffs.

Both centers are unrestricted free agents this summer, and both can be used as part of a sign-and-trade. If you were a team in need of an interior presence and had to pick between both of these guys, then the Williams who is still with the Suns is the obvious answer.

Only the Lakers had their chance to trade for him and turned it down, meaning they are now stuck with potentially going after Williams III. A brilliant defensive player when healthy, and one who plays Victor Wembanyama about as well as anybody in the league.

Adding another victory in here for The Valley and the Lakers are only considering this because Deandre Ayton did not work out. The same Ayton who was bought out by the Trail Blazers after the Suns traded him there.

So in this big man merry-go-round that will continue spinning this offseason, the Suns ended up with the best of the three here. Watching the Lakers talk themselves into Williams III will be even funnier.

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