The dispute between the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers is ongoing over Mark Williams.
The Charlotte Hornets have lodged a complaint to the NBA over the LA Lakers rescinding the trade for Mark Williams.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks does not expect this to have any real impact, expecting Williams to remain on the Hornets, and Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish to remain with the LA Lakers.
Yet the situation is unique, with Marks also comments the Lakers may have got lucky, giving up so much to acquire Williams, including their 2031 first round pick.
Former NBA star Eddie Johnson called for a NBA rule change to give teams more time to conduct trades after the deadline, if one falls through.
Speaking to The Herd, NBA analyst Rachel Nichols expressed that the Lakers’ decision has negative consequences for the Hornets and Williams long-term.
She said: “”These NBA rules that when the guy comes over, you give him physical. It could be a hangnail. You can say, I don’t like the way he looked at the eye chart.
“So you have the power as the trade partner to not only rescind the trade, you are now marking Mark Williams as damaged goods to the rest of the league, right? So you are distressing Charlotte’s asset.”
Nichols also made the ‘what if’ point, of potential subsequent trades the Hornets could have made to fill the Williams gap, looking at the effects of the trade being unwound.
She said: “What if Charlotte had made a subsequent trade to back up the fact that they didn’t have Mark Williams anymore and it had approved that trade themselves.
“Then they would be stuck having given away some of their assets to replace a guy that ended up back on their bench.”
She added: “The Lakers did nothing wrong. However, it is an interesting situation that the Lakers have put Charlotte in.
“They don’t have any recourse because of what the NBA rules are right now, but it does bring up a situation that we should all keep watching because it’s possible this gets addressed to the next CBA.”
The Charlotte Hornets did move to acquire a center, trading for the Phoenix Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic, who was desperate to leave his current situation.
The Nurkic trade did come after the Hornets had traded Mark Williams away to the Lakers, and now they have two starting caliber centers on the team.
How this breaks down into selection is yet to be determined, with Williams ruled out of the Hornets’ upcoming game with the Magic, per Rotowire.
Was the move for Nurkic made because Williams was traded, or would it have occurred anyway?
The Hornets also traded away Nick Richards to Phoenix, and had a need. In recent games Moussa Diabate has played the role.
Williams’ fitness record might mean it is sensible for the Hornets to have two centers, but longer term, one could be traded away.
And with the Lakers now going very public with their concerns over the 23-year-old, Nichols is very much correct that the asset of Williams has been ‘distressed’, there is no way they receive the haul LA offered up.
