There is just one game on the NBA schedule tonight, as the Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Charlotte Hornets in a makeup game after their originally scheduled game in L.A. was postponed due to wildfires.
The Lakers are heavy favorites and there wouldn’t normally be much intrigue to a standalone 10 p.m. ET Hornets-Lakers tilt given Charlotte is 13-39 this season, but there’s a rather fascinating subplot to this game. The night before the trade deadline, the Lakers traded for Hornets center Mark Williams, sending a package centered on Dalton Knecht and picks back to Charlotte. That trade only lasted a couple of days and neither Williams nor Knecht ever played for their new teams because the Lakers failed Williams on his physical, finding enough red flags to rescind the trade.
That sent Williams back to Charlotte, Knecht back to L.A., and makes for a very rare revenge game situation on Wednesday night, as Williams (who hasn’t played since Feb. 5) is listed as probable. We often see players get revenge games after being traded or not re-signed — the most anticipated game of this season will be Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas on April 9 — but it’s not every day you see a rescinded trade revenge game in action.
Over his last 10 games played, Williams is averaging 20.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game as he’s been a bright spot for Charlotte, and that level of play was part of why the Lakers traded for him in the first place (along with Luka Doncic reportedly handpicking Williams as his preferred target). While the Lakers decision to rescind the trade was out of long-term concern for Williams staying healthy, the big man will undoubtedly be looking to send a message with his performance on Wednesday night — and should have a good chance of having a big night given L.A.’s still-thin center rotation.
