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The Los Angeles Lakers seemed to have found their center of the future when they traded a hefty package to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams. The 23-year-old felt like the perfect long-term fit next to Luka Doncic as a roll man and lob threat, but that won't be the case anymore.
On Saturday night, the trade between the Lakers and the Hornets was rescinded due to the Hornets “failing to meet a condition of the trade,” which sent Williams back to Charlotte and Dalton Knecht back to Los Angeles. As it turns out, the issue was with Williams' physical, which the Lakers found multiple problems with.
Williams' injury issues in the past are well-known, but Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka didn't expect a situation like this. After the trade was agreed to, Pelinka expressed confidence in the deal before the physical was completed, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“We fully vetted his health stuff, led by Dr. Kris Jones at UCLA Health and Dr. Leroy Sims on our team, and he's had no surgeries,” Pelinka said, per McMenamin. “So these are just parts of, he's still growing into his body. We vetted the injuries he's had, and we're not concerned about those. We will have a chance to have a physical and continue to do a deep dive and make sure that what we've talked about and seen in the records. … So we'll still have that step in the process of doing a full physical before the trade becomes official.”
As it turns out, Williams' health was not all good, and the trade had to be called off. Since the news of the failed physical came through after the deadline had passed, there was no opportunity for the two teams to amend the deal or work something out, so it is called off completely.
The Lakers will be understandably frustrated with this, as now they will have to manage a glaring need in the middle for the rest of the season. Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko are really the only options on the interior for the Lakers, which is a dangerous bet to make in a potential playoff series. The Lakers will certainly be active in the buyout market trying to find another center, but the restrictions on them will make that very difficult.
Adding Knecht back into to the team is still a plus and will give the Lakers a reliable shooter on the wing that LeBron James and Doncic can find to create some offense. However, lack of size was probably the biggest concern on this roster before the trade and it definitely is now.
