The Mark Williams era with the Los Angeles Lakers is over before it even had a chance to begin.
The Lakers announced on Saturday night that their blockbuster trade with the Charlotte Hornets to acquire Williams has been rescinded. It has been rescinded due to Charlotte’s inability to meet a condition of the trade.
The condition of the trade that was not met, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania: Williams failed his physical with the Lakers due to multiple issues, none of which were related to his back.
Injury concerns have been one of the issues for Williams early in his NBA career, and the Lakers initially seemed to be okay with taking the chance. But after getting a look at him and putting him through a physical, they saw something that did not give them much confidence.
The trade was conditional on both Dalton Knecht and Williams passing their physicals.
It was one of the Lakers’ major blockbuster moves before the NBA trade deadline this past week, and would have sent 2024 first-round pick Knecht, Cam Reddish and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick to the Hornets, along with a 2030 pick swap, in exchange for Williams.
Because the trade deadline has already passed, the Lakers and Hornets were not able to renegotiate conditions of the trade and everybody now has to go back to where they started.
In the short-term, it’s a tough break for the Lakers because Williams would have given them the type of big-man presence they needed in their lineup. Williams also still has upside and a chance to keep developing into an even better, more impactful player.
In the long-term, they get Knecht and their 2031 pick back and could look to package them again this offseason in another deal.
The Williams trade was one of two major moves made by the Lakers before the deadline, as they also traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic in what was one of the biggest — and most shocking — NBA trades in recent memory.
