Rob Pelinka Clears Stance on Lakers’ Issues as Hornets Take Action Against Failed Trade Drama

Just when fans thought that the Lakers could not go any further after the Anthony Davis-Luka Doncic trade, it did not take long for them to pull out another surprise. As NBA fans in the US were calling it a night on February 5, news broke that the franchise had traded star rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, and a 2030 pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets! All for just one player: Mark Williams. However, almost 3 days after Shams Charania first broke the trade news, he took to X to report that the “Mark Williams/Dalton Knecht trade has been rescinded”. This created doubt on how the Lakers could proceed without a key Center during the upcoming games. As it turns out, if there is a plan, Rob Pelinka is not choosing to announce it yet.

The official X account of ‘Lakers Empire’ recently reported on the Lakers GM’s statement. Speaking out before the tip-off of the Lakers-Jazz game, he assured that the front office is actively working to rectify the Center situation after the failed trade. Unfortunately, he had no better update to give out than “Hopefully we’ll have news to come in the next few days”.

After orchestrating a deadline trade to send their star rookie to another team for a Center, one would ask: What happened? Shams Charania expanded upon this too, as he revealed that Mark Williams’ physical with the Lakers brought up multiple issues. They were enough for the player to fail the exam.

It was no secret that Mark Williams had been quite ‘injury-prone’ throughout his career. During his rookie season, Williams played in only 43 games because of a thumb ailment, that was eventually treated via surgery. A back issue limited his appearances to only 19 games during the 2023–24 season. In the ongoing season, the player’s back and foot problems caused him to only play 23 games till now. However, Shams Charania had reported that Mark Williams’ back was not among the issues that came up during the physical.

Therefore, his current issues, combined with his ‘injury-prone’ history, would have raised concern over the player’s future availability. After all, the Lakers just traded Anthony Davis, a player who carried a reputation for being injury-prone. Therefore, the team would not want to replace him with another player of the same nature.

Unfortunately, not being able to acquire Mark Williams was sure to send the Lakers’ front office spiraling. After all, he was the solution to filling the gap of a Center player left by Anthony Davis’s trade. Despite his limited appearances this season, Williams made up for the absence by averaging 16 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists with the Charlotte Hornets. JJ Redick, who had earlier served as a mentor to Williams, had a positive reaction to the trade.

In a statement, the Lakers HC revealed: “Gotten really good feedback through the years on his character and his intelligence level, and I watched him develop and just a big fan of his.” For Redick, the Center was “a really good fit for now. He’s a really good fit for the future.” Therefore, the trade not going through certainly stings.

However, the Charlotte Hornets would be more affected by the rejection. After all, they missed out on the chance to acquire a prominent and young offensive force like Dalton Knecht. Therefore, while Rob Pelinka & Co. are attempting to search for another Center, the Hornets front office is refusing to move on.

Despite welcoming Mark Williams back, Charlotte Hornets looks to dispute Rob Pelinka’s decision

Earlier today, Shams Charania reported that the Charlotte Hornets are in contact with the NBA to look for ways to dispute the Los Angeles Lakers‘ failed physical assessment of Mark Williams. If the Eastern Conference franchise succeeds in their endeavors, then Dalton Knecht could return to them.

Unfortunately, not too much information has been revealed yet to assess which side has the advantage going into the alleged trade battle.

The update from the Hornets came just days after they had highlighted a positive reaction to receiving Mark Williams back. “We are excited to welcome Mark back to our Hornets organization. After the other team aggressively pursued Mark, we made the difficult decision to move him,” the front office said in an official statement.

Highlighting the Center’s talent, work ethic, and character, the franchise highlighted being “thrilled” to see Williams rejoin the roster. Since then, however, things seemed to have taken a different course.

Who would you like to see be the next Lakers’ starting center? And will Williams (and his career) get caught in this crossfire? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.