Following the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade, the Los Angeles Lakers had a major hole at center. Rob Pelinka openly discussed that need, but noted that the market for bigs had been pretty dry leading many to wonder whether the Lakers would make another deal. But he was able to pull off another big move in acquiring promising center Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets.
The trade didn’t come cheap as the Lakers traded away rookie Dalton Knecht as well as their unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap to get the deal done. But Pelinka noted that the Lakers saw this as a chance to give Doncic and LeBron James everything they need to make a deep run in the postseason, via Dan Woike of the L.A. Times:
“I think we’ve said all along we were willing to use our picks if the right opportunity came,” Pelinka said Thursday. “And I think we feel like we have two top five, top 10 players in the world on our team right now. And just saw this as an opportunity to give those two players all the resources they need to make a playoff run.”
Williams is undoubtedly an ideal big man to pair with Doncic, something the new Lakers guard made clear in discussions with Pelinka prior to the trade. Some wondered whether this was a case of the front office already giving in to whatever their new star wants, but the Lakers general manager made it clear that it wasn’t a demand from Doncic, but simply a talk about the types of players he works best with, and then striking when an opportunity arose:
“It wasn’t like, ‘Go get this.’ That was not the spirit of the discussions. More like ‘Stylistically, some of the bigs I had in Dallas were really effective, sort of to how I play and how I make my reads.’ And I said, ‘Hey, I’ll do my best for the deadline to see if something like that’s available. If not, it’s something we’ll attack this summer,’” Pelinka said of his talk with Doncic. “I think I said at my press conference a few days ago that the market for bigs was dry. But this opportunity came to us. Maybe it’s in some sense like the L.A. housing market. Not every house is listed. And sometimes you become aware of something that’s available that’s not on the market.
“And when you see the perfect house, you’re willing to go get it, even if you have to be aggressive to do it. I think that’s how we looked at the Mark Williams opportunity when we opened up discussions with Charlotte.”
Williams has a ton of potential as a legit 7-footer with a nearly 7’7″ wingspan. This season, he is averaging 15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game and Pelinka reiterated his belief that the Lakers got the perfect big man as they look to compete with the best in the Western Conference:
“He’s got great hands, catches the ball above the rim, can finish, gives us a defensive paint presence,” Pelinka said. “There’s a lot of teams in the West that have formidable size that are around the standings with us, Memphis and Houston and OKC. And we just felt like we needed to address that, and we felt like we got the perfect guy.”
The injury concerns with Williams are valid and he, Doncic, and LeBron will need some time to figure out how they can all work together on the court. But the potential here is very high and Pelinka has done everything possible to set up the Lakers for success in both this, and future seasons.
JJ Redick discusses what Mark Williams brings to the Lakers
It will be the job of JJ Redick to integrate Mark Williams into the Lakers and while he knows the center still has a lot of areas he needs to develop in, the head coach is confident in what he will bring to the team.
“Yeah, I think Luka can play a number of ways. It would be very advantageous for us to have multiple centers that can provide a vertical threat,” Redick added. “We feel that Mark is a young starting center in this NBA, and he provides that vertical threat. Think we as a staff have a job to do in developing him as a screener, decision-maker in the pocket and on the defensive end, but we’re confident with his character, work ethic, IQ, that he’s going to be a really good player for us.”
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