Return to Sender: The Mark Williams Thread

[Liver_Pooty]

Thank God we have a beat writer who ask questions

[Liver_Pooty]

I once despised Rick but at least occasionally he would obliterate the team. Boone does nothing.

[amcoolio]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

[Braggins]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

I unironically think professional sports franchises should be publicly owned.

[HornetJail]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

i'm like 4.999999999999999999999 short, anyone else wanna chip in?

[JustBuzzin]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

i'm like 4.999999999999999999999 short, anyone else wanna chip in?

I have 5 box trucks I can probably get 200k if I sold them.

Now we making some progress.

[Walt Cronkite]

I find it hard to believe there won't be some update by the time the Hornets play their first game after the ASB, the one against the Lakers in LA.

[Jammer]

I find it hard to believe there won't be some update by the time the Hornets play their first game after the ASB, the one against the Lakers in LA.

Amazing that I haven't seen a report by an NBA Beat writer when the Arbitration hearing with Silver is scheduled. Realistically speaking, it has to be by Monday or Tuesday.

[KembaWalker]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

Can’t afford the Hornets but probably could scrape together enough from my cup holders to make a competitive offer for the Observer. Then maybe we can get some answers

[Rich4114]

This franchise has had such poor reporting and coverage for so long. I know Rick was limited in his resources (because he worked for the observer, like Rod) but at least he *covered* the team and asked questions. He also was engaging on social media, which Rod is completely not at all. I've never seen him respond to anyone about anything, probably because he doesn't know anything more than we do from reading other journalists content and the Hornets PR account posts.

Anyway, would be nice to get some real info on what the plan is with Mark. They immediately posted that public statement mentioning welcoming Mark back as the starting center but what a weird, strange, awkward situation for everyone involved.

[LurkCobain]

This franchise has had such poor reporting and coverage for so long. I know Rick was limited in his resources (because he worked for the observer, like Rod) but at least he *covered* the team and asked questions. He also was engaging on social media, which Rod is completely not at all. I've never seen him respond to anyone about anything, probably because he doesn't know anything more than we do from reading other journalists content and the Hornets PR account posts.

Anyway, would be nice to get some real info on what the plan is with Mark. They immediately posted that public statement mentioning welcoming Mark back as the starting center but what a weird, strange, awkward situation for everyone involved.

Rod is slowly becoming his parent (Rick). Sits there and writes a fluff piece with no animation whatsoever. Treats it like a dead end job.

[HornetJail]

Rod is worse because he doesn't even seem well connected to the organization

Rick at least seemed to know stuff. Rod feels little more than a guy with a blog right now

[countryboi]

Lets band together and own the team. Hell, we have done a better job at drafting than the actual GM's anyway

Surely one of you has a billion or 5 somewhere

I unironically think professional sports franchises should be publicly owned.

that's socialist talk, someone get this communist out of here

seriously I see the vision, some of these team are part of the local culture. its a travesty that the San Diego doesn't have a team.

[fatlever]

the silence from mark or his agent is concerning.

[dcarter94]

Long time (over a decade+) lurker here & lakers fan. 1st post. I come in peace.

I’m not a Rob Pelinka fan. He is an agent & he always gave snake vibes. With that said, I just can’t grasp the theory he would purposely sabotage the Williams deal when I just had to watch my favorite team play Alex Len 20+ minutes in 2025. We are desperate for a big & that deal was our only hopes for legit title contention this year.

Whatever the Williams screening showed had to be bad enough to give the Lakers major pause. & if you read the beginning of this thread, that isn’t far fetched as many of you were saying this was the Hornets getting ahead of what would likely be injury plagued short career.

I also wish an exception would have been made & both teams was able to amend the trade. Maybe add lottery protection to the picks.

[luciano-davidwesley]

Long time (over a decade+) lurker here & lakers fan. 1st post. I come in peace.

I’m not a Rob Pelinka fan. He is an agent & he always gave snake vibes. With that said, I just can’t grasp the theory he would purposely sabotage the Williams deal when I just had to watch my favorite team play Alex Len 20+ minutes in 2025. We are desperate for a big & that deal was our only hopes for legit title contention this year.

Whatever the Williams screening showed had to be bad enough to give the Lakers major pause. & if you read the beginning of this thread, that isn’t far fetched as many of you were saying this was the Hornets getting ahead of what would likely be injury plagued short career.

I also wish an exception would have been made & both teams was able to amend the trade. Maybe add lottery protection to the picks.

We have no incentive nor the goodwill to give the Lakers a sweet heart deal because of a medical technicality that the Lakers are dragging their feet on.

There's no world where we voluntarily help you guys out after this clown show and it is simply fanciful to think it possible. Sorry.

In fact I'm giggling at the cope going around Lakers forums that Hayes is barely a downgrade to Williams.

By all means enjoy Hayes/Len this year if your organisation wants to play games. But I think I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a sharp stick than do the Lakers a solid after this.

[Walt Cronkite]

If you make a win now move, doesn't that often come at the expense of the future? Isn't that the subtext of "win now"? Go all in right now to win a title and figure out the future in the future?

If the Hornets are so incompetent and/or villainous to have been playing a currently injured player or a guy with an unrevealed medical issue, then ok. Peterson should be fired and the Hornets should be punished and Mark should be pissed. That doesn't seem to have been the issue from what we as fans have been given.

From Mark's initial medical reports, which the Hornets gave to LA in full despite the initial spin put out by the Lakers, two different doctors "fully vetted his health stuff". Mark goes to LA for his physical and is failed and here we are. Mark wasn't some falling knife draft pick and didn't have a Brandon Roy/Greg Oden time bomb medical diagnosis. He missed a lot of games on a team that for the entirety of his pro career hasn't been particularly bothered with winning, but by all accounts (except for maybe the Lakers), he's currently healthy and had been playing at an arguably high level.

The trade should not be amended, because it was a win-now move agreed upon by both teams. Pelinka and two doctors looked at all of Mark's medical info and decided his past injuries were not an issue and that he was the best option for them to win the title this season. The terms of the trade were the terms, it wasn't contingent on Mark being a starting center in LA for a decade. Such ridiculous entitlement.

[Walt Cronkite]

the silence from mark or his agent is concerning.

Do you think Mark/his agent was blindsided by the trade? For me, the lack of passion while being productive screams "Dont get injured, we're trying to move you to a situation where you are a better fit." Mark (and especially his agent) should be disappointed, he was doing a lot of things well on the court and was probably going to be a great fit on a team with championship aspirations going into an offseason where he is extension eligible. The only reason Mark should be disappointed with Charlotte is if this came totally out of nowhere and he wanted to play on the Hornets for whatever reason. We let him get off the tank and put him in an awesome situation, how did Peterson wrong him?

I think the silence is legally motivated, personally. Peterson has been silent too unless I missed something. Only one side, the one that is confident they will get away with whatever they do, has talked about this. If you're pursuing legal recourse, i feel like you typically are advised/compelled to be quiet until the case develops? What should mark say anyway?

"I was excited to join the Lakers and sad to leave Charlotte. I don't really want to play for Charlotte since I'm not in their long term plans and the Lakers have disrespected me because they decided I'm not worth adding to the team since diabetes runs in my family/I was diagnosed with mild depression/whatever was the reason to fail the physical. Now I'm stuck in an awful situation and my future lifetime earnings are in jeapordy bc my contract negotiation power around the league has diminished greatly. No questions, thanks."

[dcarter94]

Trades being amended after player health examination are a thing. It just happened with Caleb Martin & Philly ended up sending another 2nd. Both teams have great motivation to get this deal done in theory. I don’t believe the league would allow it or even push it through, just hypothetical.

I believe it’s one of those things were multiple things can be true.
1. Mark Williams is healthy enough to play right now
2. His exams showed major red flags beyond what they were informed on, which is an out for the Lakers

[SWedd523]

Trades being amended after player health examination are a a thing. It just happened with Caleb Martin & Philly ended up sending another 2nd.

I believe it’s one of those things were multiple things can be true.
1. Mark Williams is healthy enough to play right now
2. His exams showed major red flags beyond what they were informed on, which is an out for the Lakers

I don't think anyone is disputing that.

The issue folks have is the Lakers trading for a known injury prone guy, balking at the trade after finding out the injury prone guy has injury concerns, and then expecting Charlotte to be punished or forced to give the Lakers a sweetheart deal.

And also dipshits like Jeff Teague and random other fans saying the Hornets tried to scam the Lakers by trading a known injury prone guy and acting like it wasn't public knowledge that the known injury prone guy has injury concerns.

Pure Main Character Syndrome