Despite the Los Angeles Lakers losing 100-97 to the Charlotte Hornets, LeBron James had a massive moment in the game. During the fourth quarter, LeBron drove to the basket and ferociously dunked the ball over Hornets center Mark Williams, who was recently traded to the Lakers before a failed medical rescinded the deal. Speaking after the game, James had a cold response to his emotions during the dunk.
“He was never a teammate. He never stepped into the locker room. He never came here. We’ve never seen him. We know the trade went down but we’ve never seen him. When it got rescinded, it was back to just what it was before. It was no different.”
LeBron James seemingly had no complicated emotions when dunking over Williams, a player who would have been his teammate if not for a failed medical. The Lakers had landed Williams at the trade deadline for a package consisting of Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 pick-swap, and a 2031 unprotected first-round pick.
However, the Lakers were not happy with the results they got from Williams’ medical and decided to rescind the trade. The deal was subject to a medical examination, which Williams seemingly did not pass. As such, Williams, Knecht, and Reddish all went back to their previous teams.
Last week, Dalton Knecht spoke about the strange rollercoaster of emotions he went through during the 72-hour period of the trade’s lifespan. And while he initially looked unhappy about the trade when he returned to the Lakers, he seemingly had a conversation with JJ Redick and Lakers GM Rob Pelinka about his future with the team, and has looked much happier since then.
As for Williams, he was handpicked by Luka Doncic to join the Lakers. But now that the trade is over, the former Duke star is not exactly sure what went wrong and why it was rescinded. The Hornets tried to fight the decision, but eventually withdrew any complaints as the Lakers operated in good faith and didn’t pull any sneaky moves.
Williams Trade Collapse Exposed Lakers Weakness
With Williams not joining the Lakers, this left their roster in a much weaker position. The Lakers have no quality starting centers, being forced to start Jaxson Hayes at the five for the rest of the season. Since then, they have signed Alex Len to a contract. However, Len has been quite poor during his last few years in the league and is unlikely to play big minutes or make a major impact for them.
Opposing NBA teams will be rubbing their hands in delight after seeing the Lakers pull the trade, as it means they can exploit their weaknesses at the center spot on a nightly basis. JJ Redick will have to come up with a unique and creative solution to try and fight them off.
One of the solutions could be to play LeBron James at center. Despite being 6’8, James is an absolute machine, and has shown in the past that he can do a great job as the center in a small-ball lineup.
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