Does Mark Williams look injured to you? Did LA make the right decision? (Update: Traded to Phoenix)

[Godymas]

Trade wasn't rejected because of ability to play right now, Mark was able to play.

The issue was something that makes his long-term prospect look bad.

pretty sure Mark Williams should be able to take LA to court over that, because they basically told everyone in the NBA "don't pay him"

[JustBuzzin]

Trade wasn't rejected because of ability to play right now, Mark was able to play.

The issue was something that makes his long-term prospect look bad.

pretty sure Mark Williams should be able to take LA to court over that, because they basically told everyone in the NBA "don't pay him"

Nah just gift us Flagg and we will keep quiet.

[cupcakesnake]

Luka and Mark Williams would have been a devastating pick & roll duo.

Defensive questions are reasonable, or simply the Lakers wanting to preserve their assets for something different.

[KyRo23]

Question: How does one fail a physical from one team but is able to play with his old team? Wouldn’t he have to pass a physical from his old team in order to play again?

Under the old team he's under contract so it probably won't an issue until Williams is trying to negotiate his next contract.

If he is too injured to play with the Lakers, how is he healthy enough to play with the Hornets? Renegotiation or not, if he’s injured to the point that he cannot pass a physical, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured…

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Under the old team he's under contract so it probably won't an issue until Williams is trying to negotiate his next contract.

If he is too injured to play with the Lakers, how is he healthy enough to play with the Hornets? Renegotiation or not, if he’s injured to the point that he cannot pass a physical, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured…

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

[KyRo23]

If he is too injured to play with the Lakers, how is he healthy enough to play with the Hornets? Renegotiation or not, if he’s injured to the point that he cannot pass a physical, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured…

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

You can be healthy to play but still have a risk of one day being not healthy. Lakers were not willing to take the risk

[Memories]

Trade wasn't rejected because of ability to play right now, Mark was able to play.

The issue was something that makes his long-term prospect look bad.

It's not like the Lakers have a ten year window right now.

They do actually. Luka Doncic changed everything.

[Memories]

If he is too injured to play with the Lakers, how is he healthy enough to play with the Hornets? Renegotiation or not, if he’s injured to the point that he cannot pass a physical, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured…

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

Hornets are not a well run organization, and they don’t have the same level of medical professionals that LA has to offer.

[druggas]

Who cares, the trade was rescinded.

[UglyBugBall]

I thought they needed him, but then they look unstoppable without him, so why would we trade for a guy that could tank our defense?

[Wadzup]

There was talk about foot issues, which may or may not immediately show themselves. But when they DO... I say this as a Cavs fan that had to endure Big Z's "Will he or won't he play" career, that was a significant factor in hamstringing Lebron's first stint there...

This is simply not true. Ilgauskas' injuries were in his first five years. By the time LeBron was drafted Ilgauskas was coming off a season where he played 81 games and was an All-Star (granted only because C was a mandatory position). He also then played 469 of a possible 492 games in the first five years with LeBron. He started to break down the last two years of LeBron's first stint but still played 65 regular season games and all 14 playoffs games as a 33-year-old in 2008-09. He was washed by 2009 (not uncommon for 7-3, 240 pound player) but still played 60 games at 34.

If anything, your Ilgauskas point adds more questions to why the Lakers flagged Williams. It probably was a good move to hold onto Knecht and the pick, but the team made that trade for a guy who has everybody knew was an injury risk. Seems to me that the Lakers found out Len was going to get bought out and decided to save their assets for the offseason and used (in bad faith) a flagged medical to rescind the trade. I'm sure those medicals weren't clean, but did they really expect them to be considering Williams' known injury history?

The whole "long-term concerns" is bogus. He only has a year and half left on his contract, with club options, so the Lakers wouldn't be bogged down long term even if there was an injury. Teams also shouldn't be able to go beyond the life of a contract when flagging players since you can only guarantee the years that are on the current contract. Plus, I'm also going to take an educated guess that if they wanted, any team could have their doctors find something to "flag" on Mikal Bridges that shows there may be long-term injury risk. There is some wear and tear on every players' body in the NBA.

[magee]

Rob Pelinka mentioned growth plate issues. That's why they rescinded the trade.

[Exp0sed]

Idk, they don't really need a guy who just scores...last I checked EPM has him first percentile in defense which is astoundingly bad, especially since iirc his D-EPM scores were fine prior to this year. I was high on Williams prior to this year but if his injuries have sapped his defensive ability, he essentially becomes Jonas Valanciunas, which is not really a player archetype I'd want personally. He is one of my favorite young players in the league, so I'm definitely not trying to **** on him, but it's concerning his defense has fallen off a cliff like that at 23

Ur seriously citing D-epm from the awful,chaotic and tanking Hornets?


whole different ball game in purple and gold next to Luka and Lebron

No way can a guy his size, with his speed and athleticism be first percentile if he was actually coached, playing in an Nba system, with quality teammates on a team that's actually trying to win games (and does in fact, win alot of games)

Really bizarre decision to fail his medical

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[Ssj16]

Question: How does one fail a physical from one team but is able to play with his old team? Wouldn’t he have to pass a physical from his old team in order to play again?

Under the old team he's under contract so it probably won't an issue until Williams is trying to negotiate his next contract.

If he is too injured to play with the Lakers, how is he healthy enough to play with the Hornets? Renegotiation or not, if he’s injured to the point that he cannot pass a physical, he shouldn’t be playing. If he’s not injured…

Failing a physical does not equate to being injured. It's more about the future health of a player and if a doctor assesses that in the near future a player's health (basketball fitness wise) is at risk.

Players are an investment. If you're going to be paying out a guaranteed contract you want to do your due diligence and determine if there are any future injury concerns.

It's no different than buying a car. The car could look fine and run fine on a test drive but if has been in a serious accident that you weren't aware of because you did not do your homework, that car is more likely to have problems down the line. Conversely if you spot this before hand, you probably wouldn't end up buying that car.

[LakersSoul]

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

You can be healthy to play but still have a risk of one day being not healthy. Lakers were not willing to take the risk

1000%!

Hornets want him to play and trade him.

Lakers want a center for LONG TERM!
and willing to pay for it if health-projectable

[therealbig3]

No no no. Read the first response to the thread. He didn’t fail the physical because his inability to play RIGHT NOW. The Lakers are insinuating that they found something that would be an issue in the future. It is known that he is okay to play right now but LA backed out as a future issue

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

Hornets are not a well run organization, and they don’t have the same level of medical professionals that LA has to offer.

This is nonsensical lmao. There are great, world class medical professionals everywhere, particularly in the major cities. First of all, medical education is pretty standardized, everyone learns the same thing, someone from a big name institution isn’t necessarily better than someone coming from a local community hospital. Second of all, yeah certain areas might be more rural, might not have the same resources…but you’re talking about Charlotte, not rural South Dakota or whatever (no offense to rural South Dakota). There are institutions there that have strong academics and cutting edge research and the latest medical technologies.

A basic Google search tells you that the Hornets primary healthcare provider is Novant Health, whose flagship hospital is ranked one of the best in the country and that they have multi state partnerships with some of the other top institutions around the country, like St. Jude’s and UVA.

And lol, between Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest all within 2 hours of the city, yeah the Hornets can’t find a quality doctor if they couldn’t find one through their base partnership.

Speaking as a medical professional, your statement is pretty insulting actually. Bigger city doesn’t equal better medical care.

[DusterBuster]

Trade wasn't rejected because of ability to play right now, Mark was able to play.

The issue was something that makes his long-term prospect look bad.

This

[thelead]

The Lakers knew what they were getting into. He already had an injury history and has not been great defensively. The Lakers got cold feet after overpaying. There’s nothing more to it.

[Memories]

So why haven’t the Hornets address the issue and shut him down until he is healthy?

Hornets are not a well run organization, and they don’t have the same level of medical professionals that LA has to offer.

This is nonsensical lmao. There are great, world class medical professionals everywhere.

No there aren’t. Why do you think Derek Fisher got away from Utah to get back to the Lakers? His daughter had cancer and the best medical doctors to take proper care of her were in California. That was a huge part of him resigning with the Lakers back in 2007.

[therealbig3]

Hornets are not a well run organization, and they don’t have the same level of medical professionals that LA has to offer.

This is nonsensical lmao. There are great, world class medical professionals everywhere.

No there aren’t. Why do you think Derek Fisher got away from Utah to get back to the Lakers? His daughter had cancer and the best medical doctors to take proper care of her were in California. That was a huge part of him resigning with the Lakers back in 2007.

And Kobe flew to Germany for procedures even though he was in LA. By that logic, LA doesn't have good medical care either.

I can get into this if you want, but I honestly don't think you have enough medical background to actually get it. I'm telling you as someone within the profession that your comments are misinformed, badly.

I mean I already kind of told you about standardized medical education, and why that means being in a big city doesn't necessarily mean better medical care, but you just totally skipped over that part.

His daughter's cancer was a super rare disease that only a few places in the country were specialized enough to treat. Yes, LA was one of them, NY was the other which is also where she got a ton of her treatment. Yes, you can go to LA or NY (or certain cities around the world) for management of super rare diseases, but for 99% of medical issues, great medical care can be found all over the country.

You're picking one example from 2007 for a super rare diagnosis for his daughter, who needed specialized pediatric medical oncology. That's like a one in a million situation. What about Kawhi Leonard? His health hasn't been any better in LA than in San Antonio.

Also, pretty sure Jazz fans feel like a lot of that was overplayed. Not saying he used his daughter as an excuse, but he also wanted to leave and go back to the Lakers.