Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Acquire Center Mark Williams for Knecht, 1st Round Pick and Pick Swap: All In for Luka and LeBron

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of Locked on Lakers for Thursday. Brian Kemenatsky, Andy Kemenatsky, Luca Donchich reportedly asked for a vertical or a center with the capability of going vertical, a big body, someone physical. Ask and you shall receive. The Lakers reportedly will acquire Mark Williams from Charlotte. We'll break it down next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Thanks again for making Locked-on Lakers your first listen of every day Monday through Friday. No matter how or where you get your podcast, this one's always free and never behind paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where over 30,000 subscribers are excited, bold over. I don't know what exactly the right adjectives are, but good to go here. to the Lakers make another very bold move that makes a show of ours obsolete. We're happy to come back, Andy. The Lakers have acquired or will acquire, are reportedly set to acquire. The deal is not officially yet.

Starting point is 00:01:23 Mark Williams, the 23-year-old center from the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Dalton Connect, a pick swap in 2030, a first round pick in 2013, and can. Reddish. Do want to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. Super Bowl 59 is here. There's no better way to make every dollar or every play more exciting than with Fandual Sportsbook. New customers can bet just $5. And if you wait and you score 200 bucks and bonus bets to download the app or head to fanduel.com to get started. This was a bigger move than I was anticipating, Andy. Rob Polinka, you magnificent bastard.

Starting point is 00:02:09 None of us saw this coming at all. And truly, we did not because those of you who watched our earlier show, thank you very much. Like 10 minutes ago. Yeah. It's not like five minutes ago. This one, we wasted no time. This show's actually live. The previous one was not.

Starting point is 00:02:25 We were just sort of going when we went. But Mark Williams was not even on our bingo card in terms of, centers to potentially target who could be available because similar to the reasons that you and I have been saying over and over that we never thought Walker Kessler was ever going to be truly available for a team like Charlotte that is, I guess in a perpetual rebuild, they sort of exist to rebuild. Mark Williams, a young, bouncy, athletic, somewhat injured, and we're going to get to that. There are injury concerns. There are risks. Significant injury concerns. But he is typically the type of player that teams hang on to in a rebuild. The everydayers

Starting point is 00:03:18 will recall that I had been banging the drum for the Lakers to target Nick Richards, who had been Mark Williams' backup in Charlotte and the starter when Williams was hurt. Another, you know, mid-20, this, this guy, Richard's mid-20s or whatever, but that I thought might be more getable. He ends up going to Phoenix, but I'll be honest, Mark Williams never crossed my mind. I did not think he'd be available. And I think certain teams like Charlotte are kind of in a perpetual rebuild and never seem to want to get near signing anybody. But the biggest reason that the Hornets wouldn't want to hold on to Williams is, that he was eligible for an extension next year and he's been hurt like a lot he's in three years

Starting point is 00:04:11 he's played 85 games give or take and so that includes being hurt this year he's had foot problems he's had back problems like there there is no shortage of problems that this guy's had that said he is actually about eight months younger than Dalton connect so in terms of you know Did the Lakers blow up their timeline? Did they? No, they actually didn't. They got younger in this deal. They got a little more expensive, but they got younger.

Starting point is 00:04:44 And look, we're seeing a lot of things like on the chat here. Is he as good as Walker Kessler? No, I don't think he is because Walker Kessler is a much better defender than Mark Williams. Although the last, I will say, though, this is interesting. I've been looking up some numbers. The last time Mark Williams played against Utah, and to be clear, I have no idea how much of the head-to-head matchup against Walker Kessler, like, you know, the numbers, all that stuff. We just learned about this deal. I have not had time to go back and look at the advanced box scores of Mark Williams' game.

Starting point is 00:05:25 But Mark Williams had 31 and 13 against Utah, and you have to figure at least. And that's the thing. The answer to the question is, Williams is likely a better offensive player than Kessler. He is not as good a defender. What Williams is very good at is rebounding, particularly offensive rebounding, is a very strong rebounder. He averages this season in 25 minutes,

Starting point is 00:05:52 three offensive rebounds a game, three second chance points a game. And while the offense has been better for the Lakers of late, second chance points has been a weakness for this team all season. So he should help along those lines alone. Yeah, he's going to help them short up the rebounding. He's obviously a very good offensive player in terms of his ability to contribute on that side of the ball. Defense is a mixed bag depending on who you're looking at with their reaction online. Over the course of his career, if you want to use something as basic as on-off stats,

Starting point is 00:06:29 They were very strong defensively for Williams and his rookie season. They've got progressively worse every season. That can be- Charlotte. Right. As I was going to say, that can be attributed to a lot of the – Now, Charlotte is a surprisingly competent defensive team this season, despite the fact that they are horrible.

Starting point is 00:06:49 They're actually not a bad defensive team. They're middle of the pack, you know, actually sort of right at the edge of the upper third. And so, like, you can't – well, oftentimes, on really bad teams. It's hard to tell if any individual player is good or bad or whatever. Williams is, you know, he's a pretty good shot blocker. He's an, again, excellent rebounder, which is part of defense. And the other stuff may or may not be perfect. But here's the thing. Perfect is not usually an option. Perfect, I think, for the Lakers, to some degree, would be somebody like Miles Turner. Great rim protector, good three-point shooter, established player. He's not

Starting point is 00:07:34 available. And even that, you could say, you know, say he's a guy who is up for a contract and all that kind of stuff. Williams is as a player, and we're going to try to get some scouting reports and, you know, check in with the guys on the network who cover him and learn more about him in the next 24 hours. But as a player, if you set aside the risk of the injuries, this is easily as good of a deal as the Lakers could get in both the near term solving their issue of a starting caliber center. Whether you think he's good enough defensive or not, there's no question that Mark Williams is a much better than average starting center in the NBA. They solved that issue. They got their rebounding. And they did do something that fits into what Polinka had said before,

Starting point is 00:08:29 which is if we're going to make a big move, we wanted to be something that works now and down the road. He's 23 years old. He's extension eligible next year. He is somebody who could be with this team for a decade. Were I to guess, and like you said, I need to learn more about Mark Williams. obviously I've seen him play before, but like most human beings, including these citizens of Charlotte,

Starting point is 00:08:55 I don't watch a ton of Hornets basketball. So there's more I need to see of Williams deep dives or whatever. But if I had to guess, they are picturing a similar combination between Luca and Derek lively in Dallas. I think there is a prototype similarity, whether you're talking about the ability to finish. lobs, whether you're talking about the rebounding, whether you're talking about the ability to actually move the ball a bit. Mark Williams averaging two and a half assists a game, which is pretty good for a relatively inexperienced center. I actually think that is promising and even some of the digging around I've done in like the last 15 minutes on the fly. It has come up

Starting point is 00:09:44 that Williams actually has a good feel for keeping the offense going and moving the ball. And that for an offense that I know wants to keep moving, wants to avoid stagnation, that can be really helpful as well. But I imagine they are picturing trying to recreate that energy and the utility of Derek lively in Dallas with Luca. This is a deal that you look at sort of what is the prototype that you want. We talked about this in our quickly obsolete show. Go back and watch it, though. It's helpful for us.

Starting point is 00:10:25 It is. Or the really least click on it and go, I don't know, do something else. Walk the dog. Do what you want to do. Just give us the credit. Right. And you know, you look at Williams is a legitimate seven foot. He is 240 something.

Starting point is 00:10:41 pounds. He is a really big kit. A big, big presence for the Lakers in the middle. And he is going to help this team. He is going to help them, I think, more than Dalton Connect will both this season and potentially down the road. And there's something that I think is really fascinating about what the Lakers did with this deal that I want to get to next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by prize picks basketball season, to put it mildly heating up. And there is no better way to get real money action while watching your favorite NBA stars. And with prize picks, whether you're a diehard fan or just love some friendly competition, or you're just like really into trades.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Prize picks makes it fun and easy to turn your basketball knowledge into cash. Here's how it works. Pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win up to a thousand times of cast. Let's say you think LeBron is going to drop more than 30. 30 points or Mark Williams is going to grab more than nine rebounds. Prize picks let you put your predictions and put your money where your mouth is in just 60 seconds. And with prize picks, flex play option, even if one of the picks doesn't hit, you can still double your money. And if it does hit, you can get your money fast.

Starting point is 00:12:01 Sometimes as quick as 15 minutes, you can keep any game exciting with prize picks. Now is the perfect time to join. Download the app today. Use the code locked on NDA to get 50 bucks instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. That's right. You don't even need to win to get the bonus. It's guaranteed. Prize picks.

Starting point is 00:12:16 Run your game. So a quick reminder, do sign up for the Locked-on Lakers newsletter. You go to LockedonDaily.com, and when you're there, you click on Locked-on Lakers, and you have this show and a lot of great analysis from around the channel, the NBA channel, and the network, the entire Locked-on network to chew on every single day. Great way to support the show. Great way to get yourself up to day on everything. happening around the NBA.

Starting point is 00:12:49 And so what I think about this trade is it actually reinforces something that we talked about a lot about in the now obsolete earlier show for Thursday. It tells me, yes, this is a trade that is also designed to set the Lakers up for the future. This is like a legitimate center of the future type deal. He's 23 years old. He's younger than Dalton Connect. Like they didn't sacrifice, you know, down the road for what they did, you know, for here. For what their needs are right now in a Luca-having world, I think you can make a very strong argument that Mark Williams is a more useful player to them than Dalton Connect.

Starting point is 00:13:41 That said, what I really think is interesting about this is the Lakers' wild ticker. that box for next season and the season following and so on, are also saying, you know what? Steam's pretty good right now, and the Western Conference offers an opportunity for us to do something competitive this year. This conventional wisdom, semi-conventional wisdom that the Lakers took a step back in order to take a step forward in the next three to five years, isn't actually wise.

Starting point is 00:14:18 They are capable of competing this season, even with some new pieces to integrate. That's what this says to me. When you brought up Dalton Connect and the idea that Mark Williams could be more useful than him this season, you know, it remains to be seen how Williams fits with everyone, how quickly he can get up to speed with his new teammates. He is, you know, he is still a young, relatively,

Starting point is 00:14:45 inexperienced player, certainly in terms of how long he's been in the NBA. But what I do think is interesting about him versus, at the very least, connect. Dalton's been playing well of late, and there is a very good chance that he could turn into a very good player for Charlotte, because you and I have both thought that his potential is high. And, you know, the shooting ability is real. And as of late, Dalton's been scoring well. I do think, though, there was a, very good chance that once the playoffs roll around, Dalton wasn't going to be playing a lot anyway. Very possible. If I had to guess, he would probably end up around a ninth-ish man. So in that sense, Mark Williams, who should be pretty obvious, but just say it because he's played

Starting point is 00:15:39 in Charlotte, he has no playoffs experience. I don't know how he's going to react. in the playoffs either. But I do know that there will be more of a direct need for Mark Williams in the playoffs, even if his inexperience shows through in the playoffs, whereas Dalton Connect, there are enough guys on this team who are either similar to connect or similar enough, whether you're talking about the type of player, they are, skill set, whatever. Dalton's necessity in the playoffs was likely going to be low anyway. In a couple years, Dalton might be a great playoff player,

Starting point is 00:16:19 but the hope is so will Mark Williams. Either way, I think there is more of a role for Williams this season in the playoffs than Dalton Connect. Yeah, you can see, you know, we've got a comment from Big Said on the YouTube page right now. I was essentially agreeing with you, you know, this slump that Connect was in showed how it can be difficult to use him when the shot's not falling because while he's a pretty talented offensive player, you know, let's just assume that Mark Williams is a mixed bag defensively. He's better than Dalton Connect.

Starting point is 00:16:51 And he's probably not considerably worse. He's not going to be worse. Right. That's what I'm saying. And he fills a position where even if he isn't great, just the utility of having him there. And then it slides Jackson Hayes into a much more reasonable backup center position, which is where he ought to be.

Starting point is 00:17:09 But, I mean, one of the things that is intriguing about this is you go back to the title season. And the Lakers didn't even, you know, the Lakers had bigs. You know, they got, you know, Dwight Howard and they Javail McGee, both legitimate seven footers. But they were also just big. They were a big, long team. And now their starting lineup, presumably, because I think at this point, you take Rui

Starting point is 00:17:31 Hachamara out of the starting lineup and you put Dore and Phiney Smith in both, you know, really because you need some bench score. which Rui can provide. And joke's a joke. You've got to put a better defender in the starting lineup. I suspect that's what they'll do, if not right away, pretty soon after the All-Star break. We've both been calling for it for a while.

Starting point is 00:17:52 Yeah, here is your presumed starting lineup at this point. Luca Dantritch, 6.6. Austin Reeves, 6.5. Dorian Finney Smith, 6.7. And if it's still Rui, he's 6.8. LeBron James, 6. I believe he's 6. It's 6, 8, 6.6.9, something like that. Mark Williams, 7 feet. It's a lot of human being on the floor.

Starting point is 00:18:16 Just by spreading your arms out, you cover a lot of space on the floor with that lineup. This is the nine-man rotation that I'm picturing right now for the Lakers. LeBron, Luca, Austin, Rui or DFS, one or the other, Mark Williams, Gabe, Vando, Rui or DFS, Jackson Hayes. Is that a championship roster? I don't know. We need to see. For the time being, I think they would be considered a dark horse championship roster. But I'll tell you what it isn't bad. I'll tell you what it isn't a team that you're necessarily going to want to play.

Starting point is 00:18:54 Like, you know, there are there are question marks short, you know, short term and long term about Mark Williams. Like as we said in the in the show railing, I think there's some risk. but it's like a medium risk, high reward. Like as far as what they gave up in the deal with Dalton and the first and a pick swap, it's in 2030, it's not nothing. And I've seen some people in the comments section say that they think it was an overpay. If it's an overpay, it's not a massive overpay. And if Mark Williams hits the way they're hoping to, that is going to be more than fair compensation. for a position that is harder to fill than Dalton connects,

Starting point is 00:19:43 even if, say it again, I think Dalton Connect's going to be a good player. So again, Mark Williams averaging 16 and 10 this season with three and a half offensive rebounds shooting 60% from the floor. He is not a floor spacer. He has never taken a three-pointer. No, no, no. He's taken one. He's taken one this season and he missed it.

Starting point is 00:20:06 three point attempts? I'm looking at per game. I'm seeing zeros across the board. I know, but if you go to his totals, if you go to his totals. Oh, okay. Because it averages out to zero. But in reality, it's like 0.000,000,000,000, 1, but he missed it. Okay.

Starting point is 00:20:23 So, you know, he's an efficient score. He plays near the basket. But like you say, the risk is injuries, 43 games as a rookie, 19 games in his second season. That was the one I think that was erased. the back problem or that might have been the foot problem. I think it was the back. This year has been the foot problem. But last year was the back. Um, and 22 games this year for the Hornets because of the foot problem. So like, look, this is a guy who has been hurt for a significant amount of his career. Dan Wojki at the LA Times tweeted out. Lakers, uh, you know, I've seen the medicals

Starting point is 00:20:57 and feel confident that Williams is not a huge health risk. I am, I, I wouldn't expect them to say differently. But, you know, he's never had surgery. So that's a good thing. But look, I mean, every trade involves some sense, semblance of risk. And if you are going to acquire a high-end young center that league where, you know, really useful young centers are getting harder and harder to find, this is kind of what it costs. And it is a perfect, like Lucas said, said, hey, sure could really, really would enjoy an active, bouncy, vertical center. And LeBron won a title in L.A. with active, bouncy, vertical centers. And what did the Lakers do?

Starting point is 00:21:51 They went out and got one. And so, you know, beyond the, this is an aggressive and bold move to try to say, you know what, we are in it this season, which I love because the conference is open and the Lakers have shown they can play. And nobody's going to want to play LeBron, at least in the first round, with Luca Donchich, with all that rest that goes in it. It says that, you know, like to Luca, to Luca, like, we are here for you, not just down the road to build a team around.

Starting point is 00:22:25 Like, we're here now to make your team better and give you the type of. player that you want to play with. I mean, I think it sends a great message in that sense, too. I actually, when we get back, I want to talk a little bit more about that message. So that is coming up next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul and Super Bowl 59 is here. One game, two teams, endless possibilities. There is no better way to make every play more exciting than with Fandul Sportsbook, whether it's predicting the first touchdown, calling the MVP, even betting on the coin toss. Fanduel makes it easy to get in on the action.

Starting point is 00:23:06 With live betting all game long, you can adjust your bets as the game unfolds and feel the thrill from kickoff to the final whistle. The live betting feature lets you stay involved no matter what happens on the field and the app is super easy to navigate. Plus, knowing that you can place a $5 bet and potentially win $200 bonus bets for the Super Bowl, icing on the cake. Download the app or head to fandual.com to get started. Betts just five bucks.

Starting point is 00:23:32 And if you win, you'll score 200 bonus bets. Fandall.com. Bet with Fandall official partner of Super Bowl 59. Again, if you haven't do it, sign up for the newsletter, LockdownDaily.com. Click on Locked on Lakers. If you're watching on YouTube and 2,900 of you are, you can see all of this information in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Before we get to your point, Andy, one important aspect of this trade is that it opens,

Starting point is 00:24:04 up a roster spot for the Lakers. They now have an available spot that they can use, which they will almost certainly leave open, to use on the buyout market. And they got about $3.8 million or something like that before they hit the apron to play with here. I don't know exactly who that will get them. I'd have to look at who ends up on the buyout market.

Starting point is 00:24:29 But there are players flying around today, as we tape on Wednesday. And some of these guys are going to get bought out, whether you're talking Dennis Schrooter or... Dennis Schroeder will not be available. He's too much money. Just to clarify for people, because the Lakers are a first apron team,

Starting point is 00:24:48 they can't get anybody basically whose original contract was like mid-level exception money or higher. It's about $12 million as they, cut off 11 to 12. Basically, anybody who was 10 mil or higher on the original contract, double check. Don't get your hopes up because Dennis Schroeder, I actually know because I was listening to Trevor Lane over Lakers Nation talk with Keith Smith before we came on.

Starting point is 00:25:20 And they specifically mentioned Dennis as somebody that would not be available. But the point is they have this roster spot available to add another player. they probably at this point wouldn't mind picking up one more guard or but pick up whatever like that that is a sneaky little good part of this trade is that it does open up space for them on the buyout market so worth mentioning anyway you were going to say andy well you'd talk before about messaging to lucca like the idea of okay you talked about what you are looking for boom we just gave you that prototype center, athletic, bouncy, lob, threat, a type of player that you have flourished with before that has flourished alongside you. Here you go. Message sent,

Starting point is 00:26:12 message, accepted message acted upon. The Lakers, I believe, are trying to get Luca to sign an extension this offseason. Now, if he doesn't sign this offseason, he's not a free agent. He's got one more. He's got one more to go with the Lakers. I don't know off the top of my head, like how long you can go into the season before you have to wait till the following off season, any of that stuff. And there are no indications whatsoever that Luka is having doubts about a commitment to the Lakers. Right. Well, but I mean, but there are there are times when players show up and you hear whispers that they're not sure about this. You know, in the case of someone like Luca, and he was traded, not requested, he didn't want to be traded.

Starting point is 00:27:05 He had pictured being a lifer in Dallas. It's a lot to digest. You know, he has, you said he's barely gotten here, but that also could mean that he isn't sure he wants to be here, like, whatever. And sometimes that happens with players when they get traded. The indications seem to be that Luca wants to be here long term, but doing things like this immediately never hurts. No. And it's, I, you and I have not necessarily been super praising of the work that Rob Polinka has done over the last few years.

Starting point is 00:27:46 But the man. be fair. We're not looking to criticize for the sake. Which is why we haven't, you know, why we haven't had a lot. I mean, it's they made a lot of mistakes. Lakers have

Starting point is 00:27:59 done some stuff that's a little goofy, put themselves in a box. This is the second time that Rob Polinka put himself in a box and it's the second time that he has gotten himself out of the box. He put himself in a box with a Russell Westbrook deal, which was an unmitigated disaster.

Starting point is 00:28:15 We tried to warn him. We tried to warn him. We tried to warn him. We tried to warn We did. We really did. Pre-Luca, that was our most trafficked show. First was the Lakers trade for Russell Westbrook. And second, please don't trade for Russell Westbrook. That was the second most traffic show. This Lucas stuff has made that in the rearview mirror. But they got out of that box and they went to the Western Conference finals. And, you know, they were in a box this year in terms of difficult roster construction and too many guys that had option years that they could all option into. limited, go back and kind of watch everything. They got out of the box. They acquired their star for the long term. They have now acquired a young center who fits into that timeline. Is he a perfect player?

Starting point is 00:29:00 No, but he's got a ton of talent. He's age appropriate in terms of what they want to do for current. And he saw and he fits in need that they have right now. And for all of that, it cost them two first round picks, pick swap. Dalton Connect, Anthony Davis, and Max Christie. That's a lot. But they got back a lot, including a generational player who was a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer and a young, I don't want to say, All-Star Calibur Center.

Starting point is 00:29:34 I don't know that good, but he's a very young, potentially very good player. Like, that's good work. Yeah. We also, we've talked about, too, and I mean, this is something it's come up. I think on the show during the week, I know it came up when I've been doing shows for 710 ESPN. A reminder for some of the new people, I do a show called Lakers Talk for 710 ESPN in Los Angeles. It's weekly. The time often changes because 710 ESPN is the radio partner of the Lakers,

Starting point is 00:30:07 and we broadcast those games among USC basketball, the Rams, a whole lot of other teams. So my time slot moves a lot. But on that show, on the shows that appear on 710, our own show Locked on Lakers, the question of how much credit does Rob Polinka deserve for Luca, given like the context of this was brought to him as opposed to him somehow talking Nico Harrison into trading a generational superstar before he enters his prime, like, you know, having to. to plant the seed inception style, something like that. And, you know, it's similar to Anthony Davis. You know, when the Lakers got AD, there was a lot of that being orchestrated for Rob by clutch, by AD, like, and a lot of being, I guess, in the right place at the right time.

Starting point is 00:31:09 And, you know, ultimately the best proof of Rob's skills are going to be more moves like Mark Williams and some of the other things that get done building around. Well, you know, who else might you pick up around the margins? Who do they sign in the offseason? Right. And they swing creative deals to like. But here's the one area where I think Rob deserves a ton of credit because it's consistent with what we've always heard about him, even from people who don't think he's very good

Starting point is 00:31:41 at the job, even for people who don't like Rob, like personally, professional. He is very good at keeping stuff locked down. Like he's very good at keeping information tight. It is especially post-magic when magic was running the Lakers and you know, Magic is not cute. Chatter-a-Cathy. Magic is great. Like you and I have both been around Magic.

Starting point is 00:32:08 He's an, he is every bit as charismatic as you've ever heard. He is very kind to you, very nice to. He's hilarious, all that. Magic cannot do anything privately. He's not capable of him. Chaddy, Kathy. And that blew up their first attempt at getting Anthony Davis during LeBron's first season. Rob is good at keeping things tight.

Starting point is 00:32:31 Because he had that relationship with Nico Harrison, I think Nico trusted Rob to do the thing he wanted more than anything else, which is, I want to move Luca quietly, cleanly, and just be done with this. And Rob kept his mouth shut. And this was very, very useful in terms of making this happen. And it is a consistent quality of Rob's. It's the one upside to the front office, basically having like three people in it.

Starting point is 00:33:02 Three people in it. And then, you know, a byproduct as well of pulling guys in who are former agents because the relationship with Nico Harris goes back to Rob. Harrison goes back to Rob's days, rapping Kobe while Nico Harrison was at Nike. So I'm just, you know, quick word on like how this is going to fit. I saw the comment. The comments

Starting point is 00:33:26 are coming awfully quick with 31, 300,000, 300. We got like over 3,000 people watching this thing right now. So I can't keep up the comments completely. Thank you so much everybody for joining in. We're going to try to do more of these live shows, but you go back to

Starting point is 00:33:42 the championship season. And the shooting percentages, Dwight Howard shot 73% that year with the Lakers. Javale McGee shot 64% that season with the Lakers. Neither one of them working up particularly high volume, but the reason those guys were as efficient as they were is because they generally speaking didn't have to shoot from anywhere more than a foot and a half away from the bucket. They finished running the floor. They finished on lobs.

Starting point is 00:34:11 They finished diving to the basket on screen and rolls. and that was with LeBron kind of orchestrating. Now you have LeBron with Luca, who is, I mean, these guys are going to make Mark Williams an extremely wealthy man. If he can stay healthy and keep his body right and stay on the floor, the production that Williams could potentially put up with those two guys feeding him the ball and the kind of attention that the Lakers are going to be able to create around the floor with Luca and LeBron and Austin Reeves and floor spacing with Dorian Finney Smith and Rui Hachamura and all that. It's Mark Williams should, Mark, I suspect Williams is stoked to get over to L.A. as fast as he tweeted out, he tweeted out Purple and Gold Hearts.

Starting point is 00:35:09 I imagine he's stoked. That could theoretically, I mean, if you're looking for glass half full projections, he is more defensively engaged, oriented, interested on a team that actually matters. Look, and I think that's true. I mean, he's got a time to learn. He's not going to be a perfect defender. Michael Domingo comments William's going to average 10 dunks a game. He might.

Starting point is 00:35:32 That is possible. Williams is going to have to improve defensively, but playing on a team with more structure and more sense. stability with higher expectations and probably, you know, a clearer idea of what he needs to do and when is going to help him. So the Lakers are, I'm not going to say they're done because if I say they're going to done, then in a half hour, we're going to have to do another show. But they are running out of things to trade between now and noon Pacific tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:36:04 we will certainly keep an eye on what else might happen. We're going to try to dig up some guests who can give us some more background and information on Mark Williams. Bring that to you as fast as we can. In the meantime, Locked on Lakers on YouTube, which many of you are watching right now, is where you can go hang out with over 30,000 subscribers who are really stoked about what's going on. The Lakers play Golden State this evening. Don't know if Jimmy Butler will be available? Probably not for them.

Starting point is 00:36:34 Mark Williams probably not for the Lakers, so it's fair. Exciting times in Lakerland. Great time to be a Lakers fan. We appreciate everybody joining in this show and sticking with us for the rest of the season. We'll see everyone after the game.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Lakers Acquire Center Mark Williams for Knecht, 1st Round Pick and Pick Swap: All In for Luka and LeBron

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.