Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Mark Williams Fails His Physical, Trade Between Lakers and Hornets Is Rescinded

Episode Date: February 9, 2025

There are no breaks with the Lakers these days. In a shocking turn of events, the trade between the Lakers and Hornets bringing Mark Williams to LA has been rescinded after Williams failed his physical. It's important to know how rare this sort of thing is, and while reports are it wasn't his problematic back that spooked LA's docs, there was enough other stuff going on here that the Lakers simply couldn't pass him. Eventually, we'll get a better feel for whatever happened here, and down the road we'll learn whether the Lakers dodged a bullet and/or if they can make a better deal this offseason, the most pressing question is clear: What do the Lakers do now? The Lakers still need a center, but trade deadline is passed, so that's not an option, anymore. Meanwhile, undoing the trade puts two players back on LA's roster, complicating their efforts to sign a  player on the buyout market. Moreover, none of the players they might eventually get access to will be as good, or even as close to as good, as Williams. Rob Pelinka is going to need to return to the drawing board, but this time it's going to be filled with far fewer appealing choices.  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!WayFairAfter the holiday hustle, there’s nothing like giving your home a little TLC. Give your home the refresh it needs with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. Wayfair. Every style. Every home.SKIMSShop SKIMS Mens at SKIMS.com/lockedonnba. Let them know we sent you! After you place your order, select "podcast" in the survey and select our show in the dropdown menu that follows.OpenPhoneThe #1 business phone system designed to help you keep your work and personal life separate.Right now, OpenPhone is offering 20% off your first 6 months when you go to OpenPhone.com/LOCKEDONNBA.and if you have existing numbers with another service, OpenPhone will port them over at no extra charge!Door DashThey Swoosh, You Save: when any player scores 50 or more points in a game during the 24/25 NBA regular season, DashPass members save 50% on an order, up to $10 off with promo code NBA50. 50% Off 1 Order (Up to $10 Off)Offer valid from 9:00 AM PT through 11:59 PM PT after a 50 point performance in any game during the NBA season on orders placed at participating merchant locations. Valid only in the United States. Maximum value of discount is $10.00. Discount applies to subtotal only; does not apply to fees, taxes, and gratuity. Not valid for pickup. Limit one per person. Not valid for the purchase of alcohol. Fees, taxes, and gratuity still apply. Must have an active DashPass account. Use promo code NBA50 to redeem. See further terms and conditions at https://drd.sh/8ONpZP/.FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.  FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everyone, welcome to another special bonus episode of Locked-on Lakers, Brian Keminetsky. The Mark Williams trade is no more. He fails as physical with the Lakers. It has been rescinded. So what happens next? You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers. First listen to every day, Monday through Friday, sometimes multiple times on Saturday. days, no matter how or where you get your podcast, this one's always free, never behind paywall. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you go hang out with over 31,000 subscribers to the channel, all of whom are wondering what the F just went happened. And this is a crazy day because we, Andy and I, you know, we did a show after the, the Pacers game, the Lakers, no LeBron James, no Luca Donchich, and no, we thought Mark Williams, who was on his way to being a Laker, yet they beat the Pacers behind 45 points from Austin Reeves,

seven rebounds, seven assists, 124, 117 is the final, a huge win for the Lakers in that supporting cast. And this is just how this trade deadline has been for the Lakers. And, you know, the last really, the last week and a half, you can't look away because something crazy is about to happen, whether it's trading for Luca Dantzic, whether it's trading for Mark Williams, whether it's now, having the Mark Williams trade rescinded. He failed his physical reportedly with the Lakers, and the deal is off. He is headed back to Charlotte.

The Lakers will be returned, Dalton Connect and Cam Reddish, along with pick swap, and the first round pick that went to the Hornets. So that whole deal is unwound. It's as if it never happened other than, I guess, you know, potential hurt feelings on on the part of the people who were involved in the deal. So look, we're going to find out over a little bit of time what exactly happened here. What frightened them after initial reports that they were comfortable and confident with the medical records of Mark Williams. And apparently, though, when they got him to Los Angeles and really looked under the hood, they were not pleased with what they saw.

Sham Shcherani of ESPN reporting that it wasn't in fact, wasn't in fact his back. that really got the Lakers to fail him in that physical concern about his long-term health and all of this other stuff. There was other stuff. There was other things going on with him, whether it's the foot that's been hurt, maybe it could be a knee. I don't know. But the bottom line is he failed it. And the Lakers, this is something that Ramona Shelburne at ESPN put out, and is certainly true. The Lakers are making a long-term investment or plan thought they were making a long-term investment in Mark Williams.

They gave up a lot to get them, a first round pick, a pick swap, a highly regarded rookie player in Dalton Connect. And they weren't comfortable. Nobody likes doing this. Nobody likes putting a trade on the table and then having it fall through, particularly since because this happens after the trade deadline, the Lakers can't do anything to fix this for this season. So the big question now is what happens to the Lakers this year? In the long term, we might all look back on this in two or three or four seasons or even less.

And think the Lakers may have dodged a bullet. Mark Williams, this injury history could be seriously problematic. And I think back to the Andrew Bynum situation where the Lakers kind of knew that he was a bit of a time bomb from a health standpoint. And part of the reason that Dwight Howard trade was so smart, didn't quite work, but why it was smart was because the Lakers didn't want to sign Andrew Bynum. They really didn't want to be on the hook for that. And as it turned out, Andrew Bynum was, you know, the struggle with his health and really wasn't the same player after, you know, being moved in that trade. So, you know, maybe that's something like that would have happened with Williams over the next two or three years and the Lakers dodged a bullet. But the bigger question becomes what do they do this year?

Because Williams had been back on the floor playing well for the Hornets. And it was the expectation that he would be the guy that fills the hole for them at center. You know, the Lakers finished the Luka-Danchich deal. they move Anthony Davis, they trade Max Christie. That is a lot of defense that goes out the door in the process. Mark Williams wasn't meant to replace Anthony Davis defensively, but he was meant to provide the Lakers with a legitimate kind of above average center in the league. Somebody with a lot of physical gifts, very, you know, pretty good offensive game.

And, you know, the vertical threat that Luca Donchage has been asked for, what it prefers. LeBron James obviously loves having a center who can get up above the rim as well. Williams, who has a longer standing reach than Victor Wenbina, was expected to fill that role. Be a guy who could at least be sort of a deterrent around the basket, add some size, add some length, some athleticism, much more polish on the scoring side and the offensive side than a player like Jackson Hayes.

And that goes out the window. They no longer have that player and they no longer really have access to, and it's only they can go back in. They can't go back and make another deal. The deadline has passed. So what are your options if you're the Lakers? First and foremost, Jackson Hayes, you are currently the man. you are going to continue to be the starting center. He has, you know, he played a really nice game on Saturday.

He was a point away from a double double, had 12 rebounds, was very active. But the flip side is, we know that Hayes is a relatively limited player. There are situations and contexts that are going to be tough for him. And certainly when you go into the playoffs, I think there is a concern that his ability would be, you know, to make an impact, it'll be limited. We'll see. The Lakers also have

Trey Jemison on the roster. He played pretty well on Saturday. Christian Coloco is on the roster. The problem is both of those guys are on two-way contracts. Two-way players are not eligible for the playoffs. So they would have to be converted to regular contracts to be able to play in the postseason. That's a challenge because the Lakers no longer have an extra roster spot.

So, you know, they're back to 15. They traded two. They got one back. That extra roster spot was supposed to be something they could use on the buyout market. Now, they still can get into the buyout market, but to do so, they're going to have to release a player. And, you know, if you feel like you need two guys, you know, you need a center, another back, like, it just, it's, it really messes with what they're trying to. you do not just for the starting center position, but I think some of the depth and what else they want to do,

because presumably they might pick up another body. Now you have to find, if you're going to be in the buyout market, it's almost certainly going to have to be for a center. And the names there are not overwhelming. Remember, the Lakers are restricted in the type of player they can sign. If they make over, I believe, $12.8 million, is a mid-level exception. Lakers because of where they are, can't sign that.

about $1.5.1.6 million, I believe, away from the apron. My understanding, trying to catch up with all this stuff in the course of Saturday night and learning a lot about cap math is that, you know, they have enough cap space, but that in that 1.6, or not cap space, but enough space between that second apron level or that $1.6 million, that it was, be enough for them to get a player on the buyout market that they're eligible to get if, if they can find the right player. And again, the problem is that there just aren't that many names out there currently. And the ones that do show up, you know, you are sort of in your Daniel Tice tier of, of player. And, you know, these are not necessarily difference makers. There was a lot of risk with Williams.

There's no question. But that said, from a talent standpoint, he was significantly better, significantly better than anybody the Lakers were going to be able to find on the buyout market. Now, we'll see who they go and look and get. We'll see who they might add. We'll see how they juggle around their two-way players, perhaps, to, you know, if they get, if they don't pick anybody up, by the time you get to the playoffs, they're certainly going to have to cut people to make and convert one of those two-way centers.

to a regular contract just so you have a backup in the postseason. This is a wrench in what the Lakers were trying to do. Following the deadline, you know, the big Dantzach trade, you are short center. Everybody knows it. You have this fairly stunning deal that nobody saw coming. And that seemed to, at the very least, in the short term, risk aside, address the huge hole that they had in their lineup for this year. that is done. So, you know, they'll probably play small a lot.

I think that's something we could expect. And, you know, and then it's just, it's scouring the buyout market, trying to juggle the roster around to make space for somebody that you think can serve a purpose with this group. Now, that's a, they should be a very appealing spot. You know, if you're a buyout center, normally you don't have a chance to walk into a starting job or at the very least a high minutes role. And you certainly don't do that with the opportunity to have lobs thrown to you all day by

LeBron James and Luca Donchich. So they will be an appealing spot for Biggs who need to find a home after they're bought out. But it just, it is a difficult thing to kind of expect a difference maker to be somebody they can add before the end of the year. Now, again, we'll see what. happens in the off season, they get the pickback, they get the swap back, they might be able to make a better deal this summer and in the long term be set up better. We'll see. It's impossible

to know that at this point, but no question Rob Polinka is going to be scrambling to get this stuff figured out before the end of the year. Locked on Lakers is on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 31,000 subscribers. We'll of course be back on Monday with a lot more to talk about now than we ever expect. The Lakers just refusing to let anybody take a break from them. Like, you've got to be watching all the time. We'll see

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