The Charlotte Hornets are trying to figure out what to do after their trade with the Los Angeles Lakers failed.
The Hornets have been in contact with the NBA and are exploring their options to dispute the Lakers’ failed physical assessment of Mark Williams, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Monday night. The Hornets are “weighing avenues” to challenge the Lakers’ evaluation process or find an alternative resolution with the league. It’s unclear what that resolution may be.
The Lakers dealt rookie Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish, along with a future draft pick and a pick swap, to the Hornets for Williams ahead of the deadline last week. But on Saturday, .
The players involved in the deal have since returned to their original teams.
According to ESPN, Williams’ physical showed multiple issues. It’s unclear what those issues were specifically, though Williams has missed nearly 60% of possible games for the Hornets during his three seasons in the league due to various injuries. He has only played in 23 games this season due to a foot injury.
Williams has averaged 15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game this season for Charlotte, which selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2022 out of Duke. He appeared to be a good fit to play alongside Luka Dončić in Los Angeles. Williams was going to slide in and replace Anthony Davis at center, too, after the Lakers dealt him away for Dončić just days earlier.
The Lakers are now short-handed at the position. Jaxson Hayes is the only center listed on their roster, so they will look to find a resolution in the near future, too. Regardless of how the Hornets go about it, though, they clearly have moved on from Williams as an option.
Yahoo Sports
