LOS ANGELES — If there were any concerns about the Lakers’ urgency to contend for an NBA title this season, they abated any doubts with an aggressive approach to the league’s trade deadline, which passed Thursday at noon PT.
First, they made a blockbuster deal last weekend that shocked the entire league, acquiring Luka Doncic in a three-team trade that sent Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the Dallas Mavericks, pairing the 25-year-old Doncic with the 40-year-old LeBron James as the Lakers’ new 1-2 punch.
And the Lakers’ front office, led by General Manager Rob Pelinka, wasn’t done yet.
After Pelinka publicly acknowledged the team’s need for another big man during Doncic’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, the Lakers traded for one just 36 hours later, acquiring 7-foot, 241-pound center Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night to fortify their interior presence.
Williams, the No. 15 pick out of Duke in 2022 who turned just 23 in December, fits the archetype of big men who have thrived alongside Doncic: an athletic and mobile lob threat who can make their presence felt at the rim.
He fits the Lakers’ goal of adding players who can contribute now to a Lakers team co-starred by Doncic and James while also fitting the age timeline of Doncic.
In total, the Lakers added six players via trades over the past six weeks: Doncic, Williams, Dorian Finney-Smith, Shake Milton, Markieff Morris and Maxi Kleber, who is out for several months with a broken foot.
The players and draft picks they relinquished to re-tool their roster highlight the all-in approach they took ahead of the deadline: Davis, Christie, D’Angelo Russell, Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, their 2029 and ’31 first-round draft picks and a pick swap in ’30 and four second-round draft picks (2025 via Clippers, ’27, ’30, ’31).
By acquiring six players and trading seven over the last six weeks, the Lakers have opened a roster spot and can be active in the buyout market. They’re hard capped at the second apron, about $3.8 million under it.
More to come on this story.