After the Los Angeles Lakers traded for superstar guard Luka Doncic, there was an obvious massive hole at the center position. The Lakers were already thin up front, but dealing away Anthony Davis to bring in Doncic left Jaxson Hayes as the only center on a standard contract.
Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office would quickly to address that need, however, agreeing to a deal for Charlotte Hornets big man Mark Williams that would give the team a promising center who could contribute immediately while also giving Doncic a long-term big man partner. Unfortunately, that deal would fall through due to Williams failing his physical, but Doncic and his camp were not fazed.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there are no issues from Doncic and his camp following the Lakers’ rescinding the deal with the 25-year-old actually being impressed at how quickly Pelinka and the front office moved to address the center position:
Yet there has been no tangible dismay from the Dončić camp about his new team walking away from the Williams deal. Sources told The Stein Line that Dončić, in his first discussion about roster construction with Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, told Pelinka that he understood it might take until the summer to make that addition … and came away impressed by how swiftly the Lakers initially moved to try to address that void.
Doncic understood that his initial discussion with Pelinka was for the two sides to get on the same page about how the Lakers can best build around their new star. Immediately finding that ideal big man before the trade deadline was going to be a difficult proposition, but the fact that they did initially pull off a deal, even if it was ultimately rescinded, was impressive. And the front office would then immediately turn around and find a short-term solution in Alex Len as well.
Deals tend to be a bit easier to pull off in the offseason and the Lakers won’t have to rush to find the right trade. But Doncic already sees that Pelinka and this franchise will do whatever is necessary to put the right pieces around him to take this team to the next level.
Lakers trading for Luka Doncic has given LeBron James ‘energy’
The trade for Luka Doncic brought a ton of excitement to the Lakers’ fanbase, but they aren’t the only ones. Superstar LeBron James admitted that while he hasn’t quite thought about the idea of playing a bit longer due to Doncic’s arrival, the deal has brought him more energy in the present.
“No, I have not given it that type of thought. Just the excitement of being able to add a caliber player like that, a generational talent like that to our franchise, it’s something that’s given me energy,” James said during All-Star Weekend.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do. We only had two games so far, and I believe he’s been on a minutes restriction since he came back from the calf. He hasn’t played since Christmas, I believe. As he continues to get in form, I think we could be really good going down the stretch. But we’ll see what happens.”
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