One of the significant moves that the Los Angeles Lakers have pulled before the trade deadline reportedly won’t be made official.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the franchise announced that their acquisition of Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 first-round pick, and a 2030 first-round pick swap has been rescinded.
According to Charania, the Hornets failed to comply on the conditions placed for the trade which eventually compelled the Los Angeles Lakers to void the transaction.
Apparently, the Hornets didn’t fully disclose the condition of Williams prior to the trade.
As further reported by Charania, Williams showed multiple issues during his physical exam with the Lakers, prompting the team to fail him and release an announcement about the status of their deal.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles didn’t fail Williams due to his back complications. As it is, the 23-year-old big man endures back concerns throughout his young career especially during his second campaign with the Hornets.
Williams, 23, is averaging a career-high 15.6 points this season with 9.6 boards and 2.5 assists. But like his past two seasons, he hasn’t played that much this year with only 23-game appearances.
As the trade process was still pending, Williams didn’t play on the team’s 124-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers which saw a historic career performance from Austin Reaves.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, should a player fails a physical before the trade deadline, both teams can still amend their deal to finally make it work. But following the trade deadline, a team can only cancel the trade or make it official.
Since it’s now two days since the trade deadline, the Lakers pulled a difficult, yet necessary decision to wave off their trade with the Hornets.
A 7-foot tower with an intriguing defensive potential and upside, Williams’ entry to the Lakers was well-celebrated for how he’ll fit and complement to the play style of the team’s newest star in Luka Doncic. Several figures including Magic Johnson have expressed their excitement about what the former Duke star can bring to the table.
Yet unfortunately, with how things unfolded upon the health assessment, the Lakers have no choice but to continue the season without Williams and resume that desperate hunt of finding an ideal center that will fill Anthony Davis’s shoes within the buyout market.
