The Los Angeles Lakers are making another move ahead of the trade deadline.
The Lakers struck a deal to send rookie Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. In exchange, they’ll get center Mark Williams. The Lakers also sent Charlotte an unprotected future first-round draft pick and a 2030 pick swap.
The trade came just days after the stunning deal that sent center Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for star Luka Dončić. Williams can now in theory fill the gap that Davis left in the Lakers’ lineup.
Williams is in the midst of his best season in the league. The 7-footer out of Duke has averaged 16 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season, all of which are career-highs. The Hornets took him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2022, and he’s had at least 20 points and 14 rebounds in two of their last three games — which came amid a six-game losing skid for Charlotte.
The Hornets, who hold just a 12-36 record, will get both Knecht and Reddish moving forward. The Lakers took Knecht with the No. 17 overall pick out of Tennessee last summer. He’s averaged 9.4 points and 3.1 rebounds largely off the bench while averaging almost 21 minutes per game so far with the Lakers. Reddish, who is in his second season with the Lakers, has averaged 3.3 points and two rebounds in about 18 minutes per contest this season.
Williams will now get to join a Lakers team that is ready for a bit of a rebrand at the midway point of the season. The franchise holds a 29-19 record heading into Thursday’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors, and they’ve won nine of their last 11 games. The team appears to be in a very solid position to make a second-half push under first year coach JJ Redick now with their future centerpiece for the post-LeBron James era and a rising center to go with him now in place.
Whether these moves can lead to another title before James calls it a career, however, remains to be seen.
