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The Charlotte Hornets squared off with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night for the first time since the failed Mark Williams trade. The Lakers are in fifth place in the Western Conference while the Hornets are in 14th in the East. The Lakers were big favorites at home, but the Hornets ended up overcoming a double-digit deficit in the second half to earn the 100-97 victory.
Mark Williams was supposed to be playing for the Lakers in this game, but because of a failed physical, the trade was rescinded. His agent, Jeff Schwartz, released a statement on the matter on Thursday.
“The overwhelming sentiment, after conferring with multiple, nationally recognized doctors, is that the Los Angeles Lakers should not have failed Mark Williams on his physical,” Schwartz said. “Mark was ready and able to play for them and should have been given that opportunity.”
What happened with this trade is not something that we see go down very often. The Lakers were obviously very active ahead of the trade deadline as they traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. The Williams trade was supposed to give the Lakers some much-needed size, but after the failed physical, the trade was rescinded, and Williams went back to Charlotte.
Williams finished with 10 points on 3-7 in the win against the Lakers on Wednesday night. The Hornets were down by 13 points in the third quarter, but they found a way to rally back and come up with the victory.
The Lakers are still in good position to make a run in the postseason, but adding some more size with Mark Williams would've been nice. Instead, the trade fell through. Still, the Lakers did add Luka Doncic, and they were already one of the best teams in the Western Conference before that trade went down. The Lakers should be a fun team to watch down the stretch, but losing to a team like the Hornets at home is not a good look.
