{"id":108770,"date":"2024-11-25T06:26:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T11:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=108770"},"modified":"2024-11-25T06:31:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T11:31:24","slug":"grant-williams-out-for-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/25\/grant-williams-out-for-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Charlotte Hornets Player Out For Season, Who Steps Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Charlotte Hornets have been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/06\/hornets-nick-richards-injury\/\" target=\"_self\">dealt a tough hand<\/a> early this NBA season. News has broke that forward <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willigr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grant Williams<\/a> will be out for the season after sustaining a severe knee injury. The Grant Williams injury occurred late in the fourth quarter during Saturday\u2019s 125-119 loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/24\/milwaukee-bucks-bench-leading-november\/\" target=\"_self\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>, and the team later confirmed a torn ACL in his right knee. The Hornets injury report keeps growing. His stats this season may indicate that losing him won\u2019t hurt the Hornets that badly, but the numbers don\u2019t tell the whole story.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Key Charlotte Hornets Player Out For Season, Who Steps Up?<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Grant Williams Stats<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This NBA news is a major blow to the Hornets, as Williams has been a key contributor during the team\u2019s start to the season. Although Williams is only averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists this season, he has been a key player for the Hornets. The forward has brought stability and versatility to Charlotte\u2019s lineup, especially as the Hornets injury report has been full with their key big men.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Williams\u2019 impact goes beyond his statistical contributions. His basketball IQ, leadership, and ability to play both ends of the floor are difficult to replicate. Whether stretching the floor with his shooting, battling in the post, or switching onto perimeter players, Williams has helped fill the gaps for the Hornets this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Charlotte Hornets forward Grant Williams has suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his knee, sources told ESPN. Williams averaged 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VPeJSLo3vz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VPeJSLo3vz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1860747082585284645?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Hornets Injury Report Puts Pressure on the Youth<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The timing couldn\u2019t be worse for Charlotte\u2019s already-thin frontcourt. The team has dealt with injuries to key players such as <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/richani01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Richards<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willima07.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Williams<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bridgmi02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miles Bridges<\/a>. With so many pieces missing, the Hornets must rely on younger players to step up. One of those players is rookie forward <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/salauti01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tidjane Sala\u00fcn<\/a>, who has shown flashes of potential in limited minutes. While his production hasn\u2019t been consistent, the rookie\u2019s talent suggests he could grow into a reliable option with more experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diabamo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moussa Diabat\u00e9<\/a>, another young forward, has also been thrust into a larger role. Although he likely won\u2019t replace Williams\u2019 scoring, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/17\/moussa-diabate-one-of-nbas-best-rebounders\/\" target=\"_self\">Diabat\u00e9<\/a> has made his presence felt with his rebounding and defensive hustle. He has grabbed 11 or more rebounds in six of the Hornet&#8217;s last eight games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible that veteran big man <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gibsota01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taj Gibson<\/a> could find himself with more than just a veteran bench presence while the Hornets wait for their other big men to get healthy. He has already started five games this season. Gibson is a proven veteran leader, but at 39 years old, he shouldn\u2019t be leaned on heavily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Moving Forward After The Grant Williams Injury<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking ahead, the Hornets are hopeful that Richards and Mark Williams will return soon to help stabilize the frontcourt. Mark Williams, who has been out since the start of the season, is approaching a return. He is still listed as out for Monday\u2019s game against the Magic but could be <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/basketball\/news\/hornets-mark-williams-remains-out-469171\/amp\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">returning this week<\/a>. That being said, his return to play may be slow, and the Hornets will need his help ASAP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richards has also been progressing with his rib injury but won\u2019t play Monday either. He has <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/basketball\/news\/hornets-nick-richards-still-out-monday\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">returned to on-court activities<\/a> but still doesn\u2019t have a timetable to return. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Charlotte Hornets have been dealt a tough hand early this NBA season. News has broke that forward Grant Williams will be out for the season after sustaining a severe knee injury. The Grant Williams injury occurred late in the fourth quarter during Saturday\u2019s 125-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, and the team later confirmed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":108824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1608,7,62],"tags":[1491,4044,1148,4659,4745,2978,49238],"class_list":["post-108770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-basketball","category-hornets","category-nba","tag-grant-williams","tag-mark-williams","tag-miles-bridges","tag-moussa-diabate","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nick-richards","tag-tidjane-salaun"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}