With the Charlotte Hornets' season from hell nearing its anticlimactic end, developing their young prospects to see who could be part of the next great iteration of this team now becomes a priority. However, one of their most promising prospects, 21-year old center Mark Williams, may not be present for the Hornets as they try to finish the 2022-23 campaign on a high note.

Williams, who has missed the Hornets' past three games with a thumb injury, could be in danger of missing the rest of the season. According to Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer, Williams' status for the rest of the season “is murky”, as the Hornets have not given a “definitive” timetable for the rookie's eventual return to the hardwood.

Mark Williams has impressed in his move to the Hornets starting lineup following the departure of Mason Plumlee via trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. In 12 games as their starting center, Williams averaged 10.7 points, 8.9 boards, and 1.3 blocks per game on 63.2 percent shooting from the field, beginning to prove all the naysayers wrong by establishing himself as a force on the interior.

Hornets fans will be disappointed if Williams' season truly is over just as he was starting to go on a roll. After all, many pundits criticized the Hornets' puzzling decision to trade away Jalen Duren while keeping the 15th overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft instead. To make matters worse, Williams did not receive playing time for the first 30 or so games, leading many to wonder whether Charlotte made yet another NBA Draft night blunder.

Nevertheless, Mark Williams looked primed to shut down that talk for good before going down with an injury that could derail his season. If Williams were to miss the rest of the season, he would be joining LaMelo Ball, nursing a fractured ankle, on the mend.

With Williams out due to injury, the Hornets should rely on the likes of Nick Richards, PJ Washington, and Kai Jones to fill their frontcourt minutes. Richards has shown flashes of being a nightly double-double threat, Washington provides a stretch option as the position, while Jones is trying to put together his athletic tools into one cohesive package.