Report: Luka Doncic, not LeBron James, ‘handpicked’ Mark Williams for Lakers to acquire

Report: Luka Doncic, not LeBron James, ‘handpicked’ Mark Williams for Lakers to acquire

The Los Angeles Lakers had one of the craziest trade deadlines in recent memory. Dallas Mavericks 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic fell into their lap followed by landing Mark Williams, until the deal for the latter was nixed Saturday night due to a failed physical on Williams’ behalf.

Both deals were shocking. The deal to trade Anthony Davis for Doncic broke the league while Williams, a 23-year-old athletic big man, wasn’t previously perceived to be a big available on the market ahead of the deadline.

While the deal got rescinded, without having been there a week, Doncic–not superstar LeBron James, who’s been well-known to have a big voice in the front office’s decision-making wherever he’s been–reportedly “handpick” Williams for the Lakers to target, according to ESPN NBA insider Dave McMenamin.

“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,” he wrote. “What is clear is that Doncic will have a say. And it wasn’t lost on James’ camp, sources said, that Pelinka prioritized Doncic’s involvement upon his arrival and immediately engaged in the Williams trade that he’d asked for, when James had for years wanted the team to trade its picks to improve its roster.”

It makes sense that the Lakers would immediately want to consult their new franchise superstar regarding the pieces to add around him and James. They desperately needed another big in the frontcourt, and Williams would’ve been a good fit if he was healthy.

Unfortunately, he’s dealt with ankle, back and leg injuries over his three-year career, where he’s played only 40 percent of his team’s games.

According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, the Lakers also had their hand in Robert Williams, Myles Turner, Jericho Sims, Jalen Duren and Jakob Poeltl ahead of the deadline, but ultimately landed on Williams. It’s unknown whether those bigs–all rim runners except Turner–were on Doncic’s radar.

Draymond Green believes Luka Doncic trade is byproduct of new CBA

But it’s very interesting how Doncic now has as much–if not more influence–over James, one of the greatest ever who helped the franchise win a title in 2019-20 in the Bubble. At least both players, to a degree, get their wish–the franchise showed some semblance of urgency to improve in the short- and long-term. But it’s now Luka Doncic’s franchise, not LeBron’s.

It will be very interesting to see if the Lakers circle back to those aforementioned names this offseason, or add another big on the buyout market. Jaxson Hayes is their current starting big, and while I like what Hayes has provided over the last several weeks, he’s not a starting-caliber big yet. Maybe someday, but not yet.

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