The Los Angeles Lakers traded for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams right before the trade deadline. Then, after a physical the Lakers rescinded the trade which sent Williams back to Charlotte and Dalton Knecht on a quest to collect frequent flyer miles.
Because of the California wildfires the Lakers and Hornets played a rescheduled game on Wednesday, a night before the rest of the league returned from the All-Star break. Williams, who failed a physical with the Lakers so badly a week ago they nixed the trade, started for Charlotte.
While the Mark Williams "revenge game" got off to a slow start, the center did end up with 10 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. The Hornets won by three points.
Alex Len, the center who the Lakers signed after the Williams trade fell apart, played 10 minutes and scored zero points.
Would the Lakers have won if Williams had been wearing purple and gold on Wednesday night? Who knows. It would have been hard for him to stop himself from scoring with 2:35 remaining after LaMelo Ball left Luka Doncic in the dust.
Or maybe the Lakers were just sloppy and Luka was rusty and it was nothing more than a random February loss. Only time will tell and the Lakers have a particularly tough schedule to end the season so maybe not adding a legitimate center like Williams will be the team's ultimate undoing.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lakers Immediately Haunted by Rescinded Mark Williams Trade .
