The Los Angeles Lakers completed one of the most shocking trades in NBA history when they landed Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a first-round pick. It instantly added years to their championship contention window, but left them without a starting-caliber center in the meantime.
General manager Rob Pelinka reacted quickly to Doncic’s request for a mobile, athletic lob threat by trading for Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets. But issues revealed in his physical led the Lakers to get cold feet and rescind the deal, leaving L.A. with Jaxson Hayes as the only seven-footer on the roster.
The trade being rescinded was ultimately the deciding factor for the Lakers’ season, as their lack of size at the center position was evident in their first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And Lakers Hall of Famer James Worthy knew that was the moment the team couldn’t be seen as serious contenders, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It was sad and disappointing. In the back of my mind, when we did not get Mark Williams in that trade, I knew we could be successful throughout the regular season, but as you know and you’ve seen when you get with a team for seven games — look at what happened to Cleveland. A lot of teams that are favored, i doesn’t always happen. I still don’t think the synergy was complete with Luka. There was a lot of things that were absent. And so it was just tough to see that they couldn’t advance after making it to the third seed. But that’s easy to do in the regular season, playoffs is where it is.”
In hindsight, the Lakers opting to play out the rest of the season with Hayes as the only center option was the moment they effective conceded on winning a championship in 2024-25. However, that doesn’t make it the wrong move, as their title window with Doncic is only now opening, and they have a whole offseason to find a better solution at the center position.
Williams had health concerns in multiple parts of his body and was an imperfect fit next to Doncic because he is a below-average rim protector. Now that the Lakers aren’t trying to build a team on the fly, they can actually evaluate the market and make a smarter long-term decision.
NBA executive speculates Lakers have spoken to Brook Lopez
The center market in free agency — and possibly via trade — looks somewhat slim in the early weeks of the offseason. One of the top options is a 37-year-old Brook Lopez, who is an unrestricted free agent after seven years with the Milwaukee Bucks as a strong two-way big man who could protect the paint and hit 3-pointers.
The Bucks are likely to move on from Lopez given they have bigger issues on their hands with the uncertain future of Giannis Antetokounmpo. This leaves Lopez to figure out his value in the open market, and there is both belief that he will have interest, and that the Lakers are going to be one of those teams, perhaps even speaking to him already.
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