All In.
Rob Pelinka didn’t take his foot off the gas.
Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, new superstar Luka Doncic made it clear the type of center he likes to play with. Active, athletic, and with the ability to get up to be a vertical threat. Ask and you shall receive, Mr. Doncic. Late Wednesday evening, (via ESPN’s Shams Charania) the Lakers agreed to a deal with the Charlotte Hornets to acquire 23-year old 7-footer Mark Williams in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected first rounder in 2031 and a pick swap in 2030.
This pick is reflective of the new world of options opened up to the franchise by acquiring Doncic.
First, the Lakers have clearly made the calculation—with good reason—that they’re capable of competing after the first big trade. Yes, the Lakers probably took a step back defensively, but wins against New York and the Clippers, both without Davis, showed the Lakers are capable of competing on that side of the floor. And while they did make a huge trade and sent out two key players... they acquired Luka Doncic in the process.
And because they did, that pick swap and first rounder surrendered to get Williams, who is exactly the type of player Doncic asked for (offensively at least) becomes a lot less painful to send out. The Lakers, with Doncic in the fold, are far less likely to fall off a cliff in the post-LeBron era than they might have been a week ago. Given their histories, which team would you pick to have a better record in a few years time? LA or Charlotte? Obviously a lot can happen between now and then... but the value of those picks/swaps went down a ton the minute the Pelinka and Nico Harrison called it a deal.
And in Williams, the Lakers acquired a center that wouldn’t have worked nearly as effectively with Davis. Yes, he’s a true C, but he’s also not a floor spreader. Williams has taken one three pointer in his three-season career. (He missed.) They’d have had to pay a premium to get Williams, but would have had trouble keeping him and A.D. on the floor together enough to make that cost worth it.
But with Luka and LeBron? Williams makes a lot more sense.
This was already a transformative deadline for the Lakers. But now, the Lakers have their star of the present and future, and a center who fits the timeline. There’s risk—Williams has been hurt for huge portions of all three seasons he’s played, and has been a very mixed bag as a defender—but if he can shake off the injuries (none requiring surgery) Williams could be a mainstay for a decade.
Wow. Wow, wow. wow. Lakers fans have every right to be excited.
—BK
Overheard In This Episode...
“He averages this season in 25 minutes, three offensive rebounds a game, three second-chance points a game. And you know, while the offense has been better for the Lakers of late, second-chance points have been a weakness for this team all season. So he should help along those lines.”
“This is an aggressive and bold move to try to say, you know what, we are in it this season, which I love because the conference is open and the Lakers have shown they can play and nobody’s going to want to play LeBron at least in the first round with Luka Doncic, with all that rest that goes in.”
“Rob is good at keeping things tight because he had that relationship with Nico Harrison. I think Nico trusted Rob to do the thing he wanted more than anything else, which is, I want to move Luka quietly, cleanly, and just be done with this. And Rob kept his mouth shut.”
“This is the second time that Rob Pelinka put himself in a box, and it’s the second time that he has gotten himself out of the box.”
