The Lakers’ hunt begins again. On February 6th, moments before the deadline, Rob Pelinka ended the team’s one of the most nagging problems after trading in 7-foot Mark Williams. The GM earthed a gem out of the “dry” big man market. It was considered one of the biggest steals during the deadline drama. However, two days later, the team rescinded the trade. In simple words, the Lakers backed out. So, the team will get back its promising rookie, Dalton Knecht. The only question is why did they rescind the trade?

As much as the talent that Mark Williams possessed, he had an equal amount of downside. The third-year center has missed more games than he played in his professional career. The experts repeatedly warned the Lakers about the risk they were walking into and it looks like the team has made their choice.

Tonight, NBA Insider Shams Charania broke the news and an hour later he dropped the reason. Just as we expected, it was Williams’ concerning health and conditioning. The Insider wrote, “Mark Williams’ physical with the Lakers showed multiple issues and the team failed him on the exam, sources tell ESPN. The physical was not failed due to his back, however.”

Moreover, the story doesn’t end there. Following the update, plenty of information surrounding the failed trade kept raining. Bret Seigel, another renowned Insider, dropped a controversial update on how the Hornets managed to push Mark Williams off the rack. Seigel, in his report, wrote, “What is being called “adequate and accurate” medical records and history was not given to the Lakers from the Hornets at the time of the trade.” So, the Lakers ran their physical test on Williams and decided not to risk with the trade.

JJ Redick’s dream with Mark Williams gets shattered

After the Thursday night win over the Warriors, JJ Redick made a confident statement about Mark Williams when the reporters asked about his uncertain health conditions. “Dr.Simpson and his staff, you know, did their leg work and were confident… we can take care of them and help manage his body, and he’ll be on the court for us.”

Unfortunately, the leg work didn’t seem to crack down on the exact condition behind Williams’ fitness. The 7-foot big man came into the fold with a lot of upsides. He has the biggest standing reach in the NBA world with a 9 ‘9 reach. Moreover, he can increase vertical space on the floor, giving LeBron James and Luka Doncic to play around with lob threat.

Nevertheless, now everything went for a toss. The Lakers have to start from scratch. They have to look for a center from the “dry” market once again. This time, we aren’t sure whether the team will find a perfect replacement for Anthony Davis. What do you make of the whole drama? Let us know in the comments.