Mark Williams' Agent Contends Lakers Should Not Have Failed Mark Williams On Physical

[RealGM Wiretap]

Mark Williams' agent, Jeff Schwartz, released a statement asserting that the Los Angeles Lakers should not have rescinded a trade with the Charlotte Hornets for his client.

"The overwhelming sentiment, after conferring with multiple, nationally recognized doctors, is that the Los Angeles Lakers should not have failed Mark Williams on his physical," said Schwartz in his statement.

"Mark was ready and able to play for them and should have been given that opportunity."

The Lakers and Hornets were unable to amend the trade since the physical didn't occur until after the deadline. The Lakers said in a statement that it was due to the Hornets' "failure to satisfy a condition of the trade."

Via Shams Charania/ESPN

[the_process]

Buyers remorse, plain and simple.

Lakers can do whatever they please.

[Rek]

Buyers remorse, plain and simple.

Lakers can do whatever they please.

I suspect they'll look into revising the requirements for rescinding trades after this season. Any team, not just the Lakers, can do the same thing. It's just rare. The obstacle here is that the Lakers aren't permitted to talk publicly about what concerned them with Williams' physical. So everyone is left to speculate.

It could be that they got cold feet after thinking about how much they were sending out in the trade. It could also be that they found very legitimate health concerns, maybe a previous injury didn't heal properly, etc. Since we're never going to hear those specifics, only time will tell. If Williams is able to remain relatively healthy and continue performing at a high level, then it looks bad regarding Pelinka and his team. But, if he continues to be unavailable for 2/3's of all games... That would pretty well speak for itself.

[niha17]

lakers didnt want him after thinking about it they probably failed him on purpose so it didnt go through it was all buyer remorse

[The Laker Kid]

Pelinka probably told Luka: "watch this bro, we can get any center u want." They traded for mark and returned him the next day like a TV at Costco. Pelinka is an OG and Luka is lovin it.

[Revived]

Any team, not just the Lakers, can do the same thing. It's just rare.
It could be that they got cold feet after thinking about how much they were sending out in the trade.

Why didn’t the Mavs fail AD’s physical then after they saw all the backlash they got for trading Luka?

AD was actually injured and in general has a very fragile broken down body so saying he failed the physical wouldn’t even have been surprising at all.

[kalel123]

Can't really tell anything based on what the agent says. I mean, what else is he gonna say on record? That his player is damaged goods?

Either story wouldn't surprise me. Lakers having buyers remorse or Charlotte Hornets being such crummy franchise that they held back key medical information.

[Rek]

Any team, not just the Lakers, can do the same thing. It's just rare.
It could be that they got cold feet after thinking about how much they were sending out in the trade.

Why didn’t the Mavs fail AD’s physical then after they saw all the backlash they got for trading Luka?

AD was actually injured and in general has a very fragile broken down body so saying he failed the physical wouldn’t even have been surprising at all.

Look up the rules for a team to rescind a trade. It's very broad. Considering that you will only hear specific feedback from Williams and his agent (who of course would never say anything to diminish his value), it's all one-sided. Only LA knows why they revoked the trade (and whether it was actually justified to do so). - which was pretty much the point of my response.

If you want answers about the Dallas trade, ask Nico. I have no clue why he decided that was their best move. There's no version of that trade where Dallas fans will feel like it was okay. Nor should they.

[uconn83]

Williams can't even play back to backs, that alone is all you need to know why he failed the medical. Honestly surprised more trades don't get annulled due to questionable injury history coming up in medicals in an age where teams are actively looking to lose.

[Roy T]

They trade you, inspect you like cattle and if they are not satisfied, you get discarded like a piece of trash.

That system is wack.