Just a week after shockingly landing Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers made another deal ahead of the trade deadline.
To give their new star a lob threat to play with, the Lakers acquired Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish. Williams, despite his injuries, is a talented big man whose size and play-style would complement Doncic well. However, due to problems with his physical, the Lakers rescinded the trade.
“Mark Williams’ physical with the Lakers showed multiple issues and the team failed him on the exam, sources tell ESPN,” a Feb. 8 post from NBA insider Shams Charania read. “The physical was not failed due to his back, however.”
Despite ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reporting that Doncic “handpicked” Williams as a trade target for the Lakers, the five-time All-Star is not upset about the trade falling through. According to NBA insider Marc Stein via his Substack, it is the exact opposite.
Stein reported that “there has been no tangible dismay” from Doncic or his camp. Additionally, according to Stein, Doncic was “impressed” by the Lakers’ swiftness to make a trade for Williams in the first place.
“Yet there has been no tangible dismay from the Doncic camp about his new team walking away from the Williams deal,” Stein reported. “Sources told The Stein Line that Doncic, in his first discussion about roster construction with Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, told Pelinka that he understood it might take until the summer to make that addition … and came away impressed by how swiftly the Lakers initially moved to try to address that void.”
After the trade for Williams fell through, the Lakers pivoted and signed veteran big man Alex Len.
While Len is not as exciting of an addition as Williams would have been, he still helps fill a frontcourt void that was left after the Lakers sent Anthony Davis to Dallas.
With the trade deadline having passed, the Lakers are limited in their options to add another center to the mix. However, it will be no surprise if they are active in the market once again in the offseason.
