Re: Hornets Contact League Office To Dispute Lakers' Decision To Rescind Mark Williams' Trade

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Charlotte Hornets have been in contact with the NBA to explore their options to dispute the Los Angeles Lakers' failed physical assessment of Mark Williams. The Hornets are considering their options to challenge the maneuver by the Lakers.

The Lakers traded Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first round pick and a 2030 pick swap to the Hornets for Williams. The Lakers subsequently failed Williams after his physical. Because the failed physical occurred after the trade deadline, the two sides were not allowed to agree to an amended trade.

Williams has had a number of injuries during his three-year NBA career.

Via Shams Charania/ESPN

[tigerae]

If they found other issues besides his back, I don't see how they can challenge anything. Maybe they are trying to save the fact that they didn't disclose other issues, but the Lakers need a center extremely bad, no way they would have taken this lightly for a 23 year old Williams who would absolutely be fantastic if he was healthy.

[blau08]

If they found other issues besides his back, I don't see how they can challenge anything. Maybe they are trying to save the fact that they didn't disclose other issues, but the Lakers need a center extremely bad, no way they would have taken this lightly for a 23 year old Williams who would absolutely be fantastic if he was healthy.

Smart move by Lakers. I'd be pissed if i was hornets. Lakers giving up Knecht and a 2031 unpotected FRP and a 2030 swap is too much so they changed their mind. Jaxson Hayes can do 70% of what Mark Williams can do.

[TimeisIllmatic]

Wouldn't be surprised if the Hornets knew about his issues and decided to pull a quick one. Real suspicious.

[Vegeta10176]

If they found other issues besides his back, I don't see how they can challenge anything. Maybe they are trying to save the fact that they didn't disclose other issues, but the Lakers need a center extremely bad, no way they would have taken this lightly for a 23 year old Williams who would absolutely be fantastic if he was healthy.

Smart move by Lakers. I'd be pissed if i was hornets. Lakers giving up Knecht and a 2031 unpotected FRP and a 2030 swap is too much so they changed their mind. Jaxson Hayes can do 70% of what Mark Williams can do.

I reckon there was a fundamental problem too I mean without a decent centre they are no longer contending for a championship.. Strikes me as Mark Williams has multiple concerning issues and Hornets also think they will never be able to get such a hual again for this player.. I guess it puts the lakers back into contention to go after KD potentially too. A first reeves and Dalton might get close..

[LAKESHOW]

These dudes tryin to pull a fast one. Pelinka may have been born at night, but he wasn't born last night. These jokers

[luciano-davidwesley]

If they found other issues besides his back, I don't see how they can challenge anything. Maybe they are trying to save the fact that they didn't disclose other issues, but the Lakers need a center extremely bad, no way they would have taken this lightly for a 23 year old Williams who would absolutely be fantastic if he was healthy.

Smart move by Lakers. I'd be pissed if i was hornets. Lakers giving up Knecht and a 2031 unpotected FRP and a 2030 swap is too much so they changed their mind. Jaxson Hayes can do 70% of what Mark Williams can do.

I reckon there was a fundamental problem too I mean without a decent centre they are no longer contending for a championship.. Strikes me as Mark Williams has multiple concerning issues and Hornets also think they will never be able to get such a hual again for this player.. I guess it puts the lakers back into contention to go after KD potentially too. A first reeves and Dalton might get close..

A haul? Knecht sucks, the first will be late and the swap likely would not convey. The Hornets are rightfully protecting their reputation for future trades.

If the Hornets had something to hide i doubt they'd push the envelope like this.

[tigerae]

Smart move by Lakers. I'd be pissed if i was hornets. Lakers giving up Knecht and a 2031 unpotected FRP and a 2030 swap is too much so they changed their mind. Jaxson Hayes can do 70% of what Mark Williams can do.

I reckon there was a fundamental problem too I mean without a decent centre they are no longer contending for a championship.. Strikes me as Mark Williams has multiple concerning issues and Hornets also think they will never be able to get such a hual again for this player.. I guess it puts the lakers back into contention to go after KD potentially too. A first reeves and Dalton might get close..

A haul? Knecht sucks, the first will be late and the swap likely would not convey. The Hornets are rightfully protecting their reputation for future trades.

If the Hornets had something to hide i doubt they'd push the envelope like this.

2031 pick is in 6 years from now and the 2030 swap is 5 years from now. LeBron will be retired and who knows what the roster will look like by then? Knecht also doesn't suck. He's 6th in both ppg and 3pt % for rookies. He has shown games where he can score with the best of them but needs more consistency. He's a young prospect and could take a few years to show what his ceiling is.

Not everyone can be Shaq or LeBron. Kobe and Jokic are just a couple examples where their numbers during their rookie year didn't show the fantastic players they became. Not to say he will become that, but can definitely become a very solid shooter for years to come. He reminds me a little of Tyler Herro.

The Lakers absolutely wanted Mark Williams. He fits extremely well next to Luka for years to come but obviously something was found during that physical.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Dalton Knecht is such a poor defender that he will never be more than a fringe rotation player.

[TheCage4]

I think the Lakers need for a center far outweighs the Hornets need for the package in return (I do acknowledge that it is a good trade for Charlotte).

So the idea that the Lakers failed Williams for any reason other than health is a stretch.

[Oncloud9]

There is a snow ball's chance in hell that Charlotte didn't disclose everything they knew about Williams. It is likely that something came to light in the physical that was unknown to the Hornets. I wouldn't put the Lakers trying to pull a fast one after Len was bought out.

There has to be a precedent and procedure for how these sorts of disputes are handled by the league. Ideally, both players would be ineligible to play until the matter is investigated and resolved with damages in the form of draft picks awarded/forfeited.

[Zeno]

There is a snow ball's chance in hell that Charlotte didn't disclose everything they knew about Williams. It is likely that something came to light in the physical that was unknown to the Hornets. I wouldn't put the Lakers trying to pull a fast one after Len was bought out.

There has to be a precedent and procedure for how these sorts of disputes are handled by the league. Ideally, both players would be ineligible to play until the matter is investigated and resolved with damages in the form of draft picks awarded/forfeited.

We just don't know if either party has been completely honest or not in there reporting and evaluation. Both might have done nothing wrong. Health is not a binary, pass/fail though the medical is for trade purposes. Doctors can easily disagree and both be reasonable and professional. That being said, as I said in the thread when this news broke, I agree there has to be a procedure to challenge the rescinding of a trade on medical grounds because otherwise it gives teams a blank slate to back out of any deal they might regret.

[LAKESHOW]

Senior Vice President of NBA Medical Affairs.
Dr. Leroy Sims.
DOCTOR WHO GAVE PHYSICAL TO MARK WILLIAMS. That's right you guessed it. Dr. Leroy Sims.
We ain't the ones playin games here. These voodoo Doctors they got out in Carolina ain't gonna pass for sh** in the real world of 2025.
Charlotte wants to play games and sell us a bag of sh** and label it a bag of Gold. These jokers

[dubbmotta]

When the Lakers made this trade my first thought was, "This dude has been injured EVERY season." Good they found out something in physical.

[Thechicagorilla]

When the Lakers made this trade my first thought was, "This dude has been injured EVERY season." Good they found out something in physical.

Definitely a Robert Williams III 2.0

[puja21]

There has to be a precedent and procedure for how these sorts of disputes are handled by the league

There is precedent

There are 40+ years of trades in all major professional sports being rescinded due to the new team's medical exam and not 1 case I can think of where the trade was "forced through" in spite of objections by the receiving team's medical staff.

Two bigger names I can recall: Sean Elliot's kidney disease kept him off the Hakeem Rockets and Tyson Chandler's toe prevented him joining KD/Russ/Harden/IBaka

[deeps6x]

I reckon there was a fundamental problem too I mean without a decent centre they are no longer contending for a championship.. Strikes me as Mark Williams has multiple concerning issues and Hornets also think they will never be able to get such a hual again for this player.. I guess it puts the lakers back into contention to go after KD potentially too. A first reeves and Dalton might get close..

A haul? Knecht sucks, the first will be late and the swap likely would not convey. The Hornets are rightfully protecting their reputation for future trades.

If the Hornets had something to hide i doubt they'd push the envelope like this.

2031 pick is in 6 years from now and the 2030 swap is 5 years from now. LeBron will be retired and who knows what the roster will look like by then? Knecht also doesn't suck. He's 6th in both ppg and 3pt % for rookies. He has shown games where he can score with the best of them but needs more consistency. He's a young prospect and could take a few years to show what his ceiling is.

Not everyone can be Shaq or LeBron. Kobe and Jokic are just a couple examples where their numbers during their rookie year didn't show the fantastic players they became. Not to say he will become that, but can definitely become a very solid shooter for years to come. He reminds me a little of Tyler Herro.

The Lakers absolutely wanted Mark Williams. He fits extremely well next to Luka for years to come but obviously something was found during that physical.

You could throw Brown into that group. He was hot smelly trash his first season in Boston.

I also think this is more about protecting their reputation, then trying to get the trade to go through.

[Lalouie]

this is no "maneuver" by the lakers
they wanted williams more than char wanted to trade him

[Rek]

If there is actual consideration to make the players switch teams per the original trade agreement, I hope they move quickly and get this settled.

I can't imagine being Williams, Reddish, or Knecht and being moved around like ping-pong balls. Yes, they are under contract and can be traded. But, there's a human aspect to this. They need to close this chapter so everyone can move forward.

[tigerae]

If there is actual consideration to make the players switch teams per the original trade agreement, I hope they move quickly and get this settled.

I can't imagine being Williams, Reddish, or Knecht and being moved around like ping-pong balls. Yes, they are under contract and can be traded. But, there's a human aspect to this. They need to close this chapter so everyone can move forward.

I agree. I saw Knecht at the game last night and he really looked down. Didn't celebrate too much with the team either. One way or another this needs to be resolved quickly so everyone can move forward.