Mark Williams Was Reportedly ‘Handpicked’ By Luka Doncic

The Los Angeles Lakers had the craziest NBA trade deadline week of any team in the league, as they were part of the most shocking trade in league history that sent Anthony Davis and Max Christie to Dallas for Luka Doncic. After that, they went about filling the hole at center left by Davis’ departure and traded the rest of their best assets for Mark Williams from the Hornets.

As everyone immediately noted at the time, it was quite the risk taken by the Lakers, as Williams has only played in 84 games in 2.5 seasons in Charlotte due to a variety of injuries (most recently a foot issue). Unfortunately, when the Lakers got Williams in for his physical, they found some issues that concerned them enough to rescind the trade, sending him back to Charlotte and leading to an awkward reunion with Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish.

The idea behind the move was obvious, as Williams has a similar athletic profile to Dereck Lively II, who Doncic loved in Dallas. If it weren’t clear this was a move aimed at building the kind of team Doncic prefers around him, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported on Monday that Williams was “handpicked” by Doncic in a meeting with Rob Pelinka early in the week.

Rather than Pelinka having results to show after his first extended meeting with Doncic at the team’s practice facility Feb. 3, when Doncic handpicked Williams for the GM to attempt to land, a source familiar with the matter said, the first transaction of their partnership defaulted.

While it was obvious the Lakers were trying to give Doncic the kind of big he prefers, it being this collaborative a move (even if it failed to pan out due to the physical) is quite notable. McMenamin went on to point out this was not lost on LeBron James and his camp, who had pushed in vain for the Lakers to move future assets for win-now players in the past. Truth be told, it’s more than understandable why that shift has happened in Los Angeles.

The Lakers were always hesitant about mortgaging the future for a 40-year-old LeBron and a soon-to-be 32-year-old Davis, who was not a lock to sign with them long-term. With the 25-year-old Doncic on board, there is no longer a need to wonder what the future looks like in 5-7 years, so long as they can provide him with a supporting cast that keeps him happy enough to re-sign. It’s been clear from the start that the Lakers are determined to nail the honeymoon phase with Doncic, understanding the importance of building quick bonds to get him to re-sign — especially because they will not have the supermax at their disposal to offer him.

That’s why we’ve seen them bring in Doncic’s sports performance team (who the Mavs had reportedly ousted recently) and I’d guess there will be an addition to the coaching staff this summer to bring in someone who has worked closely with Doncic in the past. Building that preferred support structure is the start, but they also have to build out the team around him that maximizes his immense talents. The good news is they have experience doing that with a similar player, as Doncic has been the young player most compared to LeBron…maybe ever. The challenge is in finding the right pieces and utilizing the few assets they have in the right manner.

That they were willing to take a swing on Williams at Doncic’s behest is certainly a sign of their commitment to him, but they also failed to finalize that trade and did so after the deadline passed with no way to scramble for a secondary attempt at bringing in a center. That will heap extra pressure on the Lakers to nail this summer with regards to the center position as they try to make a closing argument for Doncic to sign long-term.