Return to Sender: The Mark Williams Thread

[SWedd523]

LMAO "The cold reality of their being" is an absolutely perfect summation of the Hornets

[yosemiteben]

Need Ben’s 1000 word essay on how this is actually brilliant 4d chess master class by Peterson and we’re in a better spot than ever

I can't tell if you're actually interested in my thoughts or if you're just being an ****, but it seems like the latter.

[KembaWalker]

Need Ben’s 1000 word essay on how this is actually brilliant 4d chess master class by Peterson and we’re in a better spot than ever

I can't tell if you're actually interested in my thoughts or if you're just being an ****, but it seems like the latter.

Probably both, I am actually genuinely curious to see a positive spin attempt on this

[MPM]

Pelinka spinning:

"Pelinka offered a different version of events, saying Thursday that Charlotte presented the deal.

"This opportunity came to us," he said then. "Maybe it's in some sense like the L.A. housing market. Not every house is listed. And sometimes you become aware of something that's available that's not on the market. And when you see the perfect house, you're willing to go get it, even if you have to be aggressive to do it. I think that's how we looked at the Mark Williams opportunity when we opened up discussions with Charlotte.""

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43756073/lakers-hornets-deal-nixed-williams-fails-physical-sources-say

The opportunity came to us like an unlisted LA home? Sounds like it 'came to us' in an Ozempic-fueled fever dream. "When I left the ayahuasca circle to explore the forest, I was presented the deal atop a bejeweled tray carried by a coterie of faerie creatures," said Pelinka. "It is my firm belief that one of those creatures was indeed Jeff Peterson."

[KembaWalker]

Between this entire Mark saga combined with the crazy **** they pull like sending Mann out there to play a game with a herniated disc, throwing Miles back out there early with a bone bruise just to immediately reinjure it, having Miller finish out a game with a torn wrist tendon, the most interesting guy in the world to talk to would be Trent Salo. who I’m sure when he turned in his resignation to make sure his name isn’t fully tarnished being tied with “head of player health” on this team was very forcefully reminded of his NDA clauses. Oh well

[kzt123]

A 3rd star must've told Klutch Sports that they wanted to play for the Lakers and the Lakers needed to rescind the trade so they would have the assets to make a deal for them. The whole Luka deal seemed super shady something is definitely going on is LA and the NBA. You mean to tell me that a top 3 NBA player isn't even listed on the trade block to even try and get different offers from other teams but you as a franchise feel the need to only offer that player to the biggest market team in the league?

It was 72 hours after the trade had been made and other teams who made trades around that time already had new players playing in games. We even had Knecht participating in shoot around with the team. If there was any indication from our side that Mark could fail his physical, then I'm sure they would've waited till the trade was 100% finalized by the league before doing all the introductions and goodbyes with everyone involved and making the trade for Nurkić.

Either A this is clear manipulation by Lebron James, Rich Paul, Klutch Sports and the NBA to get a 3rd star to the Lakers or B this is the Lakers realizing they made a bad deal and overpaid for Mark Williams and decided to grossly overuse the Failed Physical designation to get themselves out of a overpay and tank Mark Williams trade value in the process.

[vorbis]

I'm not inclined to believe there's some huge conspiracy with this deal/not-deal, but I don't for a second believe Pelinka's accounting that this was the Hornets coming to him out of the blue. oh yeah, and the Luka trade also just showed up on your doorstep, huh? he's a former agent, very fluent in dis/misinformation doubletalk. he's out over his skis on that one.

[yosemiteben]

Need Ben’s 1000 word essay on how this is actually brilliant 4d chess master class by Peterson and we’re in a better spot than ever

I can't tell if you're actually interested in my thoughts or if you're just being an ****, but it seems like the latter.

Probably both, I am actually genuinely curious to see a positive spin attempt on this

Next time you're curious to hear my thoughts, ask without being an **** and mocking the last time I gave them and maybe I'll be willing to do it

[Walt Cronkite]

It’s such a curious development, I hope someone with a journalism bg digs in a bit.

I wonder if Mark’s visible lack of effort was from the FO telling him they’re shopping him/he’s unlikely to get extended in Charlotte. That he’s a talented player but ultimately a bad fit for what they want to do long term. He doesn’t have Moussa’s motor and he’s too talented offensively to not have some offense run through him but we’d rather that be perimeter focused. When the trade happened, it was easy to see the past performances as a showcase of his talents and why so much of the impressive stats felt empty. The team looked much more cohesive on Friday than they have with Mark for the most part.

[EmpireFalls]

Honestly though, I wished this to happen earlier in this thread, thought it was a big mistake. So I’m going to have to go down with the ship. Welcome back Mark!

[Walt Cronkite]

What do we know about the physical? Still trying to get my mind wrapped around the timeline by what’s been given. Is this accurate-ish?

Both sides claim the other initiated the talk.
A deal is agreed to, Lakers have two doctors review some things—trade is on pending physical. A report briefly exists claiming Mark can’t do strength training bc of his back, that is later retracted by the source. Trade is off because of a failed physical that indicated multiple health issues but NOT the back?

[Snidely FC]

Seems like Lakers are saying not about his back is about his foot, well, if there is something amiss with Mark's foot which might curtail his playing this season that defeats the purpose of the Lakers adding him in order to win in the playoffs this year and makes it less palatable to cost them Knecht. Where I think it becomes bullsh*tty is that Mark is 23 this should have been a trade with a longer term perspective than three months. He's 23! He should be an anchor for LA for Luka's entire stay. This is where Lebron's timeline rears it's ugly head...and it makes it feel like it's not about Mark's feet but about Lakers' cold feet.

[MasterIchiro]

Seems like Lakers are saying not about his back is about his foot, well, if there is something amiss with Mark's foot which might curtail his playing this season that defeats the purpose of the Lakers adding him in order to win in the playoffs this year and makes it less palatable to cost them Knecht. Where I think it becomes bullsh*tty is that Mark is 23 this should have been a trade with a longer term perspective than three months. He's 23! He should be an anchor for LA for Luka's entire stay. This is where Lebron's timeline rears it's ugly head...and it makes it feel like it's not about Mark's feet but about Lakers' cold feet.

Precisely. LeBron gets what he wants (Luka) but Mark doesn't impact winning this year and next.

Lakers can now assure LeBron they have the resources to add another big name.

Luka cost them 1 first. AD carried the value.

Now they have Reaves and Knecht, plus 2 firsts and 2 swaps after their 2025 pick conveys to the Hawks.

[NCHeels2008]

Seems like Lakers are saying not about his back is about his foot, well, if there is something amiss with Mark's foot which might curtail his playing this season that defeats the purpose of the Lakers adding him in order to win in the playoffs this year and makes it less palatable to cost them Knecht. Where I think it becomes bullsh*tty is that Mark is 23 this should have been a trade with a longer term perspective than three months. He's 23! He should be an anchor for LA for Luka's entire stay. This is where Lebron's timeline rears it's ugly head...and it makes it feel like it's not about Mark's feet but about Lakers' cold feet.

I honestly could see it from either perspective, he's not that bad right now but doctors spotted something that makes them worry about his window past the next couple of years OR they gave up all this stuff for a player who won't finish the season healthy most likely. LeBron and Luka are on vastly different timelines so I can see either scenario being a non-starter for the Lakers considering they gave up 1 clean pick, a swap and Knecht

[SWedd523]

Now the Lakers bubbas are saying Charlotte needs to be fined or forfeit compensation for trying to defraud them

Never thought I'd see the day where Lakers fans adopt the woe is me mentality lmao

[KembaWalker]

Now the Lakers bubbas are saying Charlotte needs to be fined or forfeit compensation for trying to defraud them

Never thought I'd see the day where Lakers fans adopt the woe is me mentality lmao

its quite something to see the simultaneous celebrating and mocking of Davis' immediate injury while getting up in arms about their own stupid trade targeting a known injury risk

[amcoolio]

A 3rd star must've told Klutch Sports that they wanted to play for the Lakers and the Lakers needed to rescind the trade so they would have the assets to make a deal for them. The whole Luka deal seemed super shady something is definitely going on is LA and the NBA. You mean to tell me that a top 3 NBA player isn't even listed on the trade block to even try and get different offers from other teams but you as a franchise feel the need to only offer that player to the biggest market team in the league?

It was 72 hours after the trade had been made and other teams who made trades around that time already had new players playing in games. We even had Knecht participating in shoot around with the team. If there was any indication from our side that Mark could fail his physical, then I'm sure they would've waited till the trade was 100% finalized by the league before doing all the introductions and goodbyes with everyone involved and making the trade for Nurkić.

Either A this is clear manipulation by Lebron James, Rich Paul, Klutch Sports and the NBA to get a 3rd star to the Lakers or B this is the Lakers realizing they made a bad deal and overpaid for Mark Williams and decided to grossly overuse the Failed Physical designation to get themselves out of a overpay and tank Mark Williams trade value in the process.

This is exactly it. Thank you. Lakers are so shady and “we are above all” and have been for a while. To just take their side and sympathize with them is so lame.

Watch them trade the same package for Embiid or something this offseason

[EmpireFalls]

A 3rd star must've told Klutch Sports that they wanted to play for the Lakers and the Lakers needed to rescind the trade so they would have the assets to make a deal for them. The whole Luka deal seemed super shady something is definitely going on is LA and the NBA. You mean to tell me that a top 3 NBA player isn't even listed on the trade block to even try and get different offers from other teams but you as a franchise feel the need to only offer that player to the biggest market team in the league?

It was 72 hours after the trade had been made and other teams who made trades around that time already had new players playing in games. We even had Knecht participating in shoot around with the team. If there was any indication from our side that Mark could fail his physical, then I'm sure they would've waited till the trade was 100% finalized by the league before doing all the introductions and goodbyes with everyone involved and making the trade for Nurkić.

Either A this is clear manipulation by Lebron James, Rich Paul, Klutch Sports and the NBA to get a 3rd star to the Lakers or B this is the Lakers realizing they made a bad deal and overpaid for Mark Williams and decided to grossly overuse the Failed Physical designation to get themselves out of a overpay and tank Mark Williams trade value in the process.

This is exactly it. Thank you. Lakers are so shady and “we are above all” and have been for a while. To just take their side and sympathize with them is so lame.

Watch them trade the same package for Embiid or something this offseason

This does hurt the Lakers badly in the short term though. It would be a hell of a “cut off your nose to spite your face” move to pull.

I lean less to conspiracy today. I think their medical team just is much more risk averse than ours

[kzt123]

A 3rd star must've told Klutch Sports that they wanted to play for the Lakers and the Lakers needed to rescind the trade so they would have the assets to make a deal for them. The whole Luka deal seemed super shady something is definitely going on is LA and the NBA. You mean to tell me that a top 3 NBA player isn't even listed on the trade block to even try and get different offers from other teams but you as a franchise feel the need to only offer that player to the biggest market team in the league?

It was 72 hours after the trade had been made and other teams who made trades around that time already had new players playing in games. We even had Knecht participating in shoot around with the team. If there was any indication from our side that Mark could fail his physical, then I'm sure they would've waited till the trade was 100% finalized by the league before doing all the introductions and goodbyes with everyone involved and making the trade for Nurkić.

Either A this is clear manipulation by Lebron James, Rich Paul, Klutch Sports and the NBA to get a 3rd star to the Lakers or B this is the Lakers realizing they made a bad deal and overpaid for Mark Williams and decided to grossly overuse the Failed Physical designation to get themselves out of a overpay and tank Mark Williams trade value in the process.

This is exactly it. Thank you. Lakers are so shady and “we are above all” and have been for a while. To just take their side and sympathize with them is so lame.

Watch them trade the same package for Embiid or something this offseason

This does hurt the Lakers badly in the short term though. It would be a hell of a “cut off your nose to spite your face” move to pull.

I lean less to conspiracy today. I think their medical team just is much more risk averse than ours

Mark would've fit and been a good piece for them once healthy but he's not moving the needle for them in the west. The 4th seed is still their celling with or without Mark. I just think a way bigger fish probably expressed interest in going to LA to team up with Luka for the long term and to win a title next year in what will be LeBron's last year. The NBA is gonna do everything in their power to send Lebron out with a title while also setting up their big market franchise with 2 other stars for the future.

[Braggins]

Trent Salo: or the 120 days of Williams