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When the Los Angeles Lakers decided to trade Anthony Davis away in the Luka Doncic trade, they were widely regarded as the big winner of that blockbuster deal. Nonetheless, the Doncic trade depleted further what already was a shorthanded frontcourt for the Lakers, and it stripped the roster of their only legitimate rim protector. So it was astute of the Lakers to pull off a trade for Mark Williams, especially when Doncic reportedly asked the team's brain trust to bring in a lob threat.
But we all know what happened: the trade was nixed and the Lakers ended up having to soldier on the rest of the season with Jaxson Hayes as their starting center and Alex Len, Christian Koloko, and Trey Jemison as their other options at the position. Suffice to say, they were not the answers for the Lakers at center, and this weakness of theirs was exposed even further in their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who sent them packing on Wednesday night with a 103-96 win in Game 5.
The Lakers, as a result of their first-round exit, have been the butt of plenty of jokes on social media, and Williams, the man the team thought was going to be the answer at the center position, rubbed even more salt on their wound with a one-emoji tweet.
“🙂,” Williams posted on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
Williams had expressed so much excitement at the thought of teaming up with Doncic and LeBron James, two of the greatest playmakers in the history of the league. But circumstances beyond his control prevented him from being a Laker, and it may have ended up costing the Purple and Gold, at least for this year's playoffs.
It's not quite clear yet what the Lakers will be doing to address their weakness at center, but Williams is surely thinking that he could have made a difference against the Timberwolves.
Did the Lakers dodge a bullet with nixed Mark Williams trade?
The Lakers were praised for finally acquiring a center, and a bright young prospect at that too, when they sent Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 first-round pick swap and an unprotected first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Mark Williams. But then Williams' physical reportedly turned up poor results, and he remains a Hornet as a result.
In the end, the Lakers may have dodged a bullet; they would have given up what's left of their limited draft capital as well as a growing young player in Knecht in exchange for someone who may have run into plenty of availability issues. But still, it doesn't remove from the sting of imagining how much better the Lakers could have been in their first-round matchup against the Timberwolves if they had Williams on the roster.
