The Los Angeles Lakers have an undeniable hole at the center position for the rest of this season. That gap was meant to be filled by Charlotte Hornets big man Mark Williams, but a failed physical forced the Lakers to rescind the deal after the deadline had already passed, leaving L.A. without any options until they signed Alex Len off the buyout market.
Until the Len signing, the Lakers only had Jaxson Hayes and two-way bigs Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III. That big man rotation had some potential and is certainly athletic, but it likely was not going to be enough for the Lakers to win a championship this season given all the elite big men in the Western Conference.
But before the Lakers agreed to acquire Williams from the Hornets, they had reportedly checked in with the New York Knicks about their reserve big man Jericho Sims, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
The Lakers considered adding bruising 6-10 center Jericho Sims, sources said, before he was moved from New York to Milwaukee on Wednesday for Delon Wright as an addition to the Kyle Kuzma-for-Khris Middleton deal. Sims would have fit the “stuff around the margins” category that Pelinka vowed the team would explore during Doncic’s introductory news conference Tuesday because, the GM said, “the market for bigs right now … is very dry. There’s just not a lot available.”
Sims was certainly a talked-about target for the Lakers after general manager Rob Pelinka’s comments about the dry center market. He seemed to be a natural fit and someone that would not require any major assets to land. However, given that the Lakers were in discussions for Williams, it makes sense that they ultimately did not get Sims, and he was dealt to Milwaukee instead.
Missing out on Sims isn’t the biggest loss, though, as he would have been a stopgap option until the summer anyways, and someone who was more to relieve some burden off of Hayes in the rotation. Most centers on the buyout market should be able to fill the same role.
Hornets trying to dispute Lakers failing Mark Williams’ physical
The Lakers failed Williams after his physical revealed several red flags, none of which had to do with the back injury that was common knowledge surrounding the center. The Hornets released a statement saying they were elated to have Williams back in the mix, but that may not have been true.
According to recent reports, the Hornets are attempting to dispute L.A.’s assessment of Williams in an effort to force the trade through anyways.
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