Suns regret for Mark Williams trade is growing by leaps and bounds

The Phoenix Suns have officially entered their offseason, and they have an alarming Mark Williams problem.

The 24-year-old failing to see any action during their sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder as a result of injury.

Suns now in lose-lose situation with Williams moving forward

Which has put the franchise in the unenviable position of being damned if they do and damned if they don't with the former Charlotte Hornet.

Suppose they do bring Williams back on an extension, which seems the more likely outcome at this point. What then? Right away he will depreciate in value because of his injury history.

For all the talk of the Suns being clever and signing Williams only to move him down the road, you have to find a trade partner who is interested.

This is why going after Mitchell Robinson would have made more sense, but there's nothing that the organization can do about that now.

There is a very real risk that the Suns could pay Williams, inch closer to both aprons and then be stuck with a guy who can't get on the court when it really matters.

The Thunder matchup would have been a favorable one for him, but there are plenty of opponents who would go smaller and force him off the court in a series as well.

Yet the alternative is arguably worse, with Phoenix allowing Williams to walk and figuring it out from there. Collin Gillespie might benefit from this, but there would still be holes to fill.

Giving up two first round picks for what would equate to a rental who didn't even play in the postseason before giving up on him would be a disaster.

General Manager Brian Gregory recently received some end of year votes for the best in the business in that position, but making the wrong Williams decision could change that perception quickly.

There doesn't appear to be a clever way to approach this either, the Bradley Beal buyout and how well that all ended up going firmly in the rearview mirror.

Rookie center Khaman Maluach showed in the Thunder series that he might actually be ready to contribute sooner rather than later, which only confuses things even more.

Figuring out what to do with Williams will define the Suns' offseason, and perhaps they can get him to come back on an ultra-friendly team deal. That seems unlikely, and what comes next will be massive in The Valley.

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