On Saturday night, the NBA world received from post-trade deadline shockwaves. The Mark Williams for Dalton Knecht trade made between the Hornets and Lakers was rescinded, per ESPN’s Shams Charania and other credible reporters.
Lakers say the Mark Williams/Dalton Knecht trade has been rescinded.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2025
Per a follow up tweet from Charania: “Mark Williams’ physical with the Lakers showed multiple issues and the team failed him on the exam — the physical was not failed due to his back, however.” Per NBA insider Marc Stein: “The Lakers just announced that their trade with Charlotte to acquire Mark Williams has been rescinded “due to failure to satisfy a condition of the trade.”
The trade has obvious league-wide implications, as the Lakers are now without the vertical center than made Luka Doncic so dangerous in Dallas. And the Hornets failed to add the rookie they’ve reportedly had their sites set on for so long.
Still, there’s worse things for Los Angeles than hanging on to Knecht, who’s had a solid debut season, all things considered. But how does he fit next to Doncic, now that it’s back on the table?
Just last season, Doncic was able to will the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals via a specific roster construction: shooters, wing defenders and vertical center threats. And while the Lakers miss out on the latter will the rescinded trade, Knecht certainly fits into the shooter category.
Through 48 games in the purple and gold, Knecht has scored 9.4 points on 47% shooting overall, hitting on 36% of his outside shots. He’s already been moderately successful alongside LeBron James’, and Doncic’s gravity at this point is perhaps even better.
Be it James, Doncic or both on-court, Knecht should have more than enough space to operate as a shooter and ancillary scorer. While he’s one of the older rookies in recent memory at 23, he’ll certainly continue to develop as a professional, too.
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