Suns absolutely can't wait to prove rival Lakers dead wrong on Mark Williams

The Phoenix Suns might be heading back into the wilderness for a few years as a result of trading away Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but any time they can get one over on the Los Angeles Lakers is worth celebrating. They're probably the biggest rival that The Valley has in the league, and it always feels like just when their luck is down in Los Angeles, something goes their way to change that.

Landing Luka Doncic at the trade deadline the most recent example last season, while the Slovenian avoiding a major knee injury while playing for his country recently again felt fortunate in a way that wouldn't have happened to the Suns. Instead they've got Beal on their books for the next five years despite getting rid of him, and a young roster with more questions than answers.

Suns have chance to prove Lakers wrong with Mark Williams.

About the only thing linking the surging Lakers and faltering Suns right now is center Mark Williams, who Phoenix curiously traded for almost immediately after drafting 18-year-old big man prospect, Khaman Maluach. It was the Lakers who first tried to land the former Charlotte Hornet around the time they swung for Doncic, but the 23-year-old failed a medical and was sent packing.

That didn't appear to concern the Suns however, and they parted with a 2029 first rounder plus the 19th pick in this year's draft in Liam McNeely in order to acquire him. This is obviously a risk, but it is one that has the potential to pay off massively in The Valley, which in the process would deny the Lakers would could be the final piece of their own puzzle.

Williams has never played more than 43 games in a season, but that number was hit last time out. Looking at this optimistically, and perhaps the worst of his injury woes are behind him, even if that is wishful thinking when it comes to discussing centers. Their bodies after breaking down rarely get any better, but there are exceptions to every rule.

The Suns won't even need Williams to carry a massive load either - something which would not have been the case in Los Angeles - as they will give Maluach reps early to see if he can be anything. Also worth remembering is Nick Richards, another center from Charlotte who is still on this roster as the third big and could yet have an important role to play if Williams goes down again.

The Lakers' failure to take a chance on Williams also led to them picking up former first overall pick in The Valley Deandre Ayton this summer, which could backfire tremendously. Ayton's time with the Portland Trail Blazers was underwhelming, and you could now make the case if Williams is healthy he's the better big man to have in your rotation.

At least he wants to defend and uses his massive frame to be a deterrent on the defensive end, which has rarely been the case for Ayton outside of that run to the 2021 NBA Finals. Williams is also the perfect lob threat for Devin Booker and Jalen Green, and the same would have been true had he been playing alongside Doncic and LeBron James.

So at a time when the rich got richer in Hollywood, the Suns have a real opportunity to prove that the Lakers' front office blew it in rejecting Williams. If he can play 60 games, average a double-double and turn the Suns from the fourth worst defensive team in efficiency last season to a league average one, then this is going to be a home run.