Perhaps there's an alternate timeline along which the Los Angeles Lakers went through with the Mark Williams trade and the 2025 NBA Playoffs turned out differently. Williams, for all of the injury concerns that would've arrived with him, is a walking double-double with profound potential.
The harsh reality, however, is that the Lakers' trade for Williams was rescinded—and the purple and gold were thus forced to operate in a Jaxson Hayes or bust capacity at center.
Thankfully, Los Angeles has acted to avoid a similar fate in 2025-26. It signed Deandre Ayton to a two-year contract that aspires to tap into the remaining potential of the former No.