Will failed trade with Lakers affect Mark Williams’ future in Charlotte, NBA?
During a quiet moment the day after the NBA trade deadline passed, Miles Bridges was asked what it would be like to play against Mark Williams immediately after the All-Star break.
That’s when the Charlotte Hornets will take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, making up the originally-scheduled Jan. 9 outing that got postponed due to the wildfires in Southern California.
“Yeah, we’re going to try to bust his (butt),” Bridges said, standing outside the Hornets’ locker room. “We’re going to try to get at him because he’s going to have that same mindset for us. We want to have a good game against him.”
But they won’t have to worry about that now, not with the deal sending Williams to the Los Angeles Lakers for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish and draft pick compensation being rescinded late Saturday night due to Lakers saying there was a failure to satisfy a condition of the trade. The swift reversal leaves everyone in an awkward position, having to return to a place that seemed to be in their rear-view mirrors.
Williams wasn’t with the Hornets for their 112-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday afternoon, leaving Charlotte even more shorthanded since LaMelo Ball (left ankle soreness) and Nick Smith Jr. (low back tightness) also didn’t play. It’s unclear if he’ll rejoin the team in time for Monday’s matchup in Brooklyn, which is the team’s penultimate contest of a three-game road trip that ends in Orlando on Wednesday, leading into NBA All-Star weekend.
Whenever Williams does arrive, he’ll probably have a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder after being rejected by the Lakers, just hours into believing he was about to have a new outlook alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Initially, after the trade became official, it even appeared Knecht had a decent chance to suit up in Friday night’s win over San Antonio. On top of that, the Hornets had already given Williams’ No. 5 to newly-signed Elfrid Payton, who’s now switched No. 22.
So, what went wrong from the time the deal was agreed upon until Saturday?
An executive from another Eastern Conference team told The Observer he believes the Lakers got concerned after finding an issue during the medical evaluation process that was different than the previous back and foot problems Williams has dealt with.
Due in part to those injuries, the 23-year-old played in only 85 games over two-plus seasons, and the foot issue he picked up in September prior to training camp cost him the initial 20 games of the 2024-25 campaign.
Knowing what Los Angeles surrendered in the now-struck-down acquisition and the financial investment it would have to commit to Williams during his next contract made it difficult to move forward with the unforeseen question mark, the executive said.
For Williams, this could wind up being a blip on his career radar.
The executive pointed to a situation with another big man years ago, recalling how the Oklahoma City Thunder’s physician failed Tyson Chandler in 2009 following an examination of his left big toe. Dr. Carlan Yates suggested the risk of Chandler reinjuring the toe was too serious to pass him on the physical and that prognosis forced the Thunder to rescind the trade sending Chandler from the then-named New Orleans Hornets for Joe Smith, North Carolina native Chris Wilcox and DeVon Hardin.
Chandler, who had missed time that season with a sprained left ankle, was baffled. He got traded to the Charlotte Bobcats months later for Emeka Okafor, and was sent to the Dallas Mavericks in 2010 for Eduardo Najera, Matt Carroll and Erick Dampier after the Bobcats backed out of an agreed-upon deal to send Chandler to Toronto.
Chandler won a championship with the Mavericks in 2012, going on to play until 2020. So, it’s possible and Williams can take solace in Chandler’s story understanding it has been done before.
When he does return, the Hornets have some rotational things to iron out.
Once they dealt their original starting 7-footer, they acquired Jusuf Nurkic and a 2026 first-round pick from Phoenix in exchange for Cody Martin, Vasa Micić and a 2026 second-round selection, grabbing the Serbian to plug into the rotation. Nurkic was inactive against the Pistons.
Moussa Diabate has started the last two games and got rewarded when his two-way contract was officially converted into a standard three-year NBA contract on Sunday. He left during the first half against the Pistons with a right eye injury and didn’t return, but the Hornets are excited for what’s to come for the Frenchman.
“It’s cool to watch somebody who has worked as hard as he has worked, who makes the most of his opportunities,” coach Charles Lee said. “When you’re in the position that he was in, you’re just trying to do everything that you can to get in the NBA, stay in the NBA and get consistent minutes. Now that he’s put himself in that position, I think for our whole organization it was pretty cool to see.
“It’s a testament to himself, but also to the coaching staff, performance staff and Greensboro Swarm staff helping to develop this kid. I think (it’s important) to teach him the things that he needs to do early on in his career to have success and to get consistent minutes.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2025 at 4:08 PM.
