He was in his second season with the Hornets after being acquired in February—alongside Seth Curry and a top-two protected 2027 first-round pick—in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks that sent P.J. Washington and a pair of second-rounders to the Mavs.

Williams suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s 125-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In 45 total games with Charlotte, Williams is averaging 12.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists, shooting 37 percent from three. He had been a crucial frontcourt player for the Hornets, especially with centers Nick Richards and Mark Williams and power forward Miles Bridges all currently sidelined with injuries of their own.

The Hornets, despite those injuries, have managed to tread water to start the season, opening with a 6-10 mark, in large part due to the jump of star point guard LaMelo Ball (30.2 PPG, 6.9 APG) and the solid play of Brandon Miller (19.8 PPG, 1.6 SPG).

The Hornets are still in the process of rebuilding around those two players, and Williams had proven to be a valuable role player. His loss will undoubtedly be felt.

That will place a bigger burden on players like 2024 lottery pick Tidjane Salaün—who has struggled in his rookie season (3.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG) on the offensive end, but has been solid defensively—alongside Moussa Diabate and Taj Gibson, especially while the team remains so thin in the frontcourt.

With Charlotte swapping lineup configurations given their dizzying array of injuries, Williams had been inserted into the starting lineup earlier in November in favor of Salaün, who had been given a two-game run with the starters.