The Lakers knew they had a big hole to fill on the inside after trading center Anthony Davis away to the Mavericks in a big three-team trade in which they acquired star Luka Doncic.
They filled that hole on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles snagged its much-coveted center, agreeing to a deal for 7-footer Mark Williams of the Charlotte Hornets, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The Lakers are sending guard Dalton Knecht, small forward Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 picks swap to the Hornets to complete the deal, per Charania.
Williams, who has some durability issues, gives the Lakers a big upgrade at center since they traded away Davis, ad he has put up offensive numbers that match some of the NBA’s other elite big men.
According to ESPN, Williams is averaging 22.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per 36 minutes this season, and the only other players to average at least 22 points and 13 rebounds per 36 minutes this season are Domantas Sabonis and Karl-Anthony Towns.
But the injury-prone 23-year-old big man, who is in his third NBA season, has played in just 85 of a possible 212 games of his career, approximately 40 percent of the time.
Jaxson Hayes, who had started at center the past three games, likely will be the backup for Los Angeles.
Though the Lakers received a promising young player, they had to send one to the Mavericks in the 23-year-old Knecht, a sharp-shooting guard who was the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of Tennessee.
Knecht, who is averaging 9.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, ranks fifth in total points and second in total 3-pointers among rookies this season.
He also has a pair of 25-point games, tied for second.
The Hornets also get the Reddish, a former Knick who averaged 3.3 points per game in 31 games for the Lakers this season.
Rebuilding Charlotte continues to pile up draft picks.
They include their own first-rounders in the next seven drafts, a top-14 protected first from Miami (2027, unprotected in 2028), a top-two protected first from Dallas (2027), the right to swap firsts with the Lakers (2030) and an unprotected first from Lakers (2031).
This Lakers-Hornets trade comes on the heels of the early Sunday morning blockbuster trade that stunned the NBA world.
In the complicated three-team deal, the Mavericks sent Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Lakers while Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick were shipped to Dallas. The Jazz were the third team in the deal and acquired Jalen Hood-Schifino and two 2025 second-round draft picks from the Clippers and Mavericks.
