The Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets have been forced to unwind a trade agreed before the deadline.
Mark Williams‘ dream move to the LA Lakers was voided after the Western Conference team spotted issues during his physical exam that prompted them to rescind the trade.
Williams heads back to the Charlotte Hornets, while the Lakers get back Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and their 2031 first round pick, which ESPN’s Bobby Marks says was too much anyway.
Moving forward, the Lakers are without a starting caliber center, having lost Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the Luka Doncic trade.
The Lakers had little time to pivot to address their needs following the momentous Luka Doncic trade.
And they did execute the Mark Williams trade with more than a day before the trade deadline, believing they had done enough.
Williams was even in the stands to watch the Lakers’ win over the Pacers, before being sent back to Charlotte, and now the team are left in a difficult situation, with the trade window closed.
Former NBA star Eddie Johnson, formerly of the Pacers, Rockets and Hornets, believes the Lakers should be compensated.
He posted on X: “This is a big blow for LA and any team that experiences this.
“A rule should be instituted for a team to be able to still trade for the same position player in the league within 2 weeks if player failed a physical and team that traded him fined for bad intel!”
Johnson’s proposal would be difficult to enforce, and a change is not likely despite the inconvenience of the trade falling through.
This boils down to the Lakers taking a risk on a player with a sketchy injury record, and getting burned. They knew they were taking a chance.
There were other centers the Lakers could have moved to trade for, without Williams’ injury history.
Perhaps those players did not have the same upside as Williams. The Lakers took a shot, and it did not work out.
