Was Lakers Trade For Mark Williams an Overpay?

The Los Angeles Lakers have their center. Did they overpay to get him?

Feb 5, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams (5) lays in the basket over Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) during the second half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers were extremely busy before the trade deadline. Of course, the Luka Doncic trade will go down as an all-time trade heist.

It was perhaps the most shocking trade in NBA history. The trade came out of nowhere, and now the Lakers have a top-three player in the NBA who is just 25 years old.

Los Angeles knew they weren't done, though. They still needed to replace Anthony Davis' rim protection and defense. A starting center was the next move they needed to make.

That's exactly what they did. The Lakers traded for Mark Williams late Wednesday night. They acquired him in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 first-round pick, and a 2030 pick swap.

Read more: Lakers Trade Dalton Knecht for New Starting Center Mark Williams

The Lakers now have their starting center, and he's even younger than Doncic. He's just 23 years old and has shown a lot of promise when he's been able to stay on the court.

Did the Lakers overpay for him, though? The Hornets got more first-round picks in return than the Mavericks did for trading the Lakers Doncic.

Knecht has shown flashes of being really good. He just hasn't been able to put anything together consistently.

Reddish is a bad offensive player but is a pretty decent defensive player. He's at least a rotation player on a good team. Add in the two picks, including the unprotected one, and it was a hefty price.

This seems like an overpay from the Lakers for just one player. They should have been able to keep at least one of those picks.

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The Lakers knew they needed a starting center, and they knew it wasn't going to come cheap. After the trade for Doncic, other teams were going to make sure that they were going to extract every possible asset from the Lakers.

This was the price they had to pay. Williams is just 23, so he can continue to grow with Doncic for years to come.

This trade isn't just about this season, it's also about the future. The Lakers think it was worth it to pair these two together, despite the fact that Williams has played just 85 games in three years.

Williams is averaging 15.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game this season.

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