Hornets' Mark Williams could play vs. Lakers after trade fiasco
02/18/2025 09:56 PM
2/18/2It has been a wild calendar month of February for Mark Williams thus far. Williams, at one point, was headed to the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Charlotte Hornets trading away their young budding center for a package headlined by Dalton Knecht and a 2031 first-round pick. However, the trade fell through, with Williams reportedly failing a physical for the Lakers. This left the Purple and Gold with no choice but to nix the trade.
There are some who theorize that the Lakers may simply have had buyer’s remorse considering how much they gave up for Williams, who isn’t exactly a model of good health. Nevertheless, what’s done is done, and Williams now has no choice but to report back to the Hornets. Alas, he hasn’t done so yet, citing the need to process everything that has happened to him before returning to the hardwood.
And it appears as though that return is going to come very soon. According to the latest injury report submitted by the Hornets to the NBA, Williams is listed as probable to play on Wednesday night, and in a poetic twist of the tale, Charlotte will be squaring off against the Lakers, of all teams.
The good news of course is that Williams isn’t exactly dealing with a nagging injury. Beyond the mental processing that was necessary for him to return and play for the Hornets, he also needed to get back into shape, as the last game he played came all the way back on February 5. It’s been two weeks since he last played, so some conditioning is necessary to get him back on track.
This is something that will teach Williams how to be a professional rather quickly. From thinking he was going to team up with LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the Lakers, he will now have to return to playing for a 13-39 team in the Hornets.
Nixed Mark Williams trade between the Lakers-Hornets — real concerns or buyer’s remorse?
Mark Williams has never been consistently healthy throughout his brief NBA career thus far. He only played 43 games during his rookie year, and followed that up with just 19 games played in his sophomore campaign — with the Hornets listing him as doubtful to play for nearly the entire year instead of just ruling him out for the year.
Williams then was not able to suit up immediately this season, making his season debut on December 3. Physical evaluations vary from team to team, and perhaps the Lakers did truly see something that warranted their decision to nix the trade, considering Williams’ shoddy track record when it comes to health.
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