The Lakers knew there would be a big hole to fill the inside after handing over Anthony Davis to the Mavericks in a big three-team deal that acquired star Luka Donsic.
They filled that hole Wednesday night.
Los Angeles has hooked that big center by agreeing to a contract for the Charlotte Hornets 7-footer Mark Williams. According to ESPN's Shams Charania.
The Lakers have sent guard dalton knecht, small forward come red dish, 2031 unprotected first round pick and 2030 pick pix swap to the Hornets to complete the transaction on a per-Charania basis.
With durability issues, Williams gives the Lakers a major upgrade at the center since replacing Davis.
According to ESPN, Williams averages 22.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per 13.8 rebounds this season, with the only other players averaging 22 points and 13 rebounds per 36 minutes this season being Domantas Sabonis and Karl Anthony Town .
However, the injury-prone 23-year-old big man in his third NBA season played around 40% of the time in 85 of the 212 games of his career.
Jaxson Hayes, who started center in the last three games, will likely be a back-up for Los Angeles.
The Lakers received a promising young player, but had to send one to Mavericks of 23-year-old Knecht, a sharp shooting guard who was the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft .
Averaging 9.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, Knecht ranks fifth in total on the rookie's 3-pointer and second in total on three-pointer this season.
He also has a 25-point game.
The Hornets also got Reddish, a former Nick who averaged 3.3 points per game in 31 Lakers games this season.
Charlotte's reconstruction continues to pile up draft topics.
The next seven drafts include their own first round. This includes the first Top 14 protected in Miami (2027 unprotected 2028), and the first Top 2 protected from Dallas (2027), and the right to trade with the Lakers first ( and not initially protected from the Lakers (2031).
This Lakers Hornets trade is right behind the blockbuster Sunday morning trade that surprised the NBA world.
On the complicated three-team contract, the Mavericks sent Donsic, Maxi Klever and Markev Morris to the Lakers, with Davis, Max Christie and the first round picks of 2029 shipped to Dallas. The Jazz were the third team on the contract and won two 2025 second round draft picks from Jalen Hood-Schifino and The Clippers and Mavericks.
